SCOMBER. 295 



anal, and from eighteen to twenty four in the cau- 

 dal. 



Yellow Mackerel, — Scomber Crysos. Only- 

 six inches in length, and two deep at the thick- 

 est part ; said to be on the coast, though we have 

 not procured a specimen, but taken in the bay 

 of New York, and at Newport, &c. Rhode 

 Island. 



Horse-Mackerel, — Scomber Plumbeus. On 

 the authority of the late Dr Mitchill, we no- 

 tice the existence of this little fish, thirteen 

 inches long, with a name that is associated with 

 the idea of something large enough to swallow a 

 horse. Not a single specimen could be procured 

 last season, in the vicinity of Boston. 



Spanish Mackerel, — Scomber Maculatus, 

 so called by writers, and the banded-mackerel, 

 scomber zonatus, are minutely described by Dr 

 Mitchill, but after a tedious and satisfactory ex- 

 amination, we are fully persuaded that the doctor 

 was deceived by the soft rays and the accidental 

 difference of color, at different seasons of the year, 

 and that there are not so many varieties of the 

 mackerel as he imagined. If at any subsequent 

 period we change this opinion, in a future edition 

 we shall certainly be honest in confessing it. 



