W. G. STEVENSON. 85 



COLOR. 



The color is drab or ashy-gray, lighter on the abdo- 

 men ; darker or leaden-gray towards the tail and on the 

 borders of the pectoral and caudal fins. 



HEAD AND BODY. 



The head is short, with snout three inches above the 

 mouth, projecting four and three-quarter inches beyond 

 the jaws. The body is stout, tapering gradually from 

 the pectorals to the tail. The abdomen is somewhat 

 pendant anterior to the ventrals. 



IMBRICATED SCALES. 



When rubbed in a forward direction the surface feels 

 like minute sharp points or barbules, which, under a lens, 

 are seen to be calcified, imbricated papillae or shagreen, 

 about one one-hundred-twentieth of an inch in diame- 

 ter, retrorse, and arranged in irregular rows. These pa- 

 pillae have their free ends serrated, which give to each 

 papilla three unequal teeth-like points, of which the 

 middle one is generally the longest and sharpest. 



LATERAL LINES AND MUCLFEROUS OPENINGS. 



The lateral lines of the two sides, united by a trans- 

 verse line nine and one-half inches from the end of the 

 snout, are distinctly marked on each side of the body 

 from the snout to the caudal peduncle, where they dis- 

 appear in the keel. The snout is covered with pin-hole 

 like mucus openings, which are more numerous around 

 the nasal apertures, and form five irregular rows on 

 either side of the median line of the head, above the 

 orbits. 



EYES. 



The eyes are orbicular, without nictitating membranes, 

 one and one-half inches in diameter, seven inches from 



37 



