THE COMPRESSED BURBOT OR EEL-POUT. 19 
River, a tributary of the Connecticut, about four miles from 
East Windsor Hill, May 22, 1868, and was brought to me in 
a tub of water, which gave me a good opportunity to examine 
it in its natural state. There was one taken in the Farming- 
ton River, some six miles from this place, in an eel-pot a 
few years since, and was kept alive for several weeks. 
The description given by Dr. Storer, in the two reports 
referred to, is so full that but little which is new can be 
added. The length of those described by Lesueur and 
Storer, were six and eight inches; by Lindsley, eleven and 
a quarter inches. The one before me is eleven inches long. 
Color.—The back and sides are yellowish brown, with 
irregular patches of a darker color, marked somewhat like our 
pickerel, only a shade darker; the gill covers and snout are 
dark brown, the belly is of a light color in place of the yel- 
lowish on the sides; the first dorsal fin is lighter than the 
body ; the second dorsal and caudal fins are dark at the base, 
yellowish in the middle, with the edge margined with black or 
dark brown; the anal fin is siiil marked, though a little 
lighter ; the black margin is not as wide as on the dorsal. 
Description. —'The body is shaped very much like an eel, 
being cylindrical; the abdomen rather more prominent than 
in'the eel. The head measures one and three-quarter inches 
in length and is compressed above. The sides begin to be 
compressed at the tip of the pectorals, and continue to be 
more so until it terminates in the caudal fin, which appears 
like a membranous continuation of the body; the tail fin is 
fan shaped, and measures one and a half inches in length 
at its longest point. The first dorsal is quite small, and is 
two inches from the head. The second dorsal is situated a 
quarter of an inch back of the first dorsal, and terminates at 
the base of the tail, and is rounded at its posterior extrem- 
ity. The anal fin commences an eighth of an inch lower 
down than the dorsal, and terminates in the same manner. 
The ventral fins measure seven-eighths of an inch in length, 
and are composed of two free rays, one ray measuring five- 

