PERCOIDE.E. 11 



given of it by Pallas, who considered it to be a Labrax. Exclusive of this uncer- 

 tain species, there are three others which are each peculiar to a separate quarter of 

 the Northern hemisphere. The European one, L. sandra, is found in the rivers 

 and lakes of the north-east parts of that quarter of the world, and in the rivers that 

 fall into the Caspian, being, however, unknown in Great Britain, France, and Italy. 

 In this species there are no scales on the cheeks, lower part of the operculum, or 

 suboperculum, and the preoperculum is the only piece of the gill-cover that is den- 

 tated, or shows spinous points. The vomer is armed only with teeth " en velours ;" 

 and there are one hundred and twenty scales in a row between the gill-openings and 

 the caudal-fin. The Asiatic species {L. volgensis) inhabits the rivers and lakes which 

 flow into the Caspian Sea, has smaller and less unequal teeth than the preceding, but 

 larger scales, there being only ninety in a longitudinal row. The cheeks and the 

 gill-covers, with the exception of the suboperculum, and the limb and lower edge 

 of the preoperculum, are covered with small scales. The L. Americana differs 

 remarkably from these two in the tip of its bony operculum, being a sharp point or 

 spine, showing, as Cuvier observes, that this sort of arming furnishes a character 

 of very secondary importance. Other distinctive marks will appear in the detailed 

 description which follows. The specimen described in the Histoire des Poissons 

 was procured by M. Milbert from the fresh-waters of New York, but no account 

 is given of its habits : ours is from Lake Huron, and was prepared by Mr. Todd 

 at Penetanguishene. This gentleman states that it spawns in April and May, when 

 it collects in numbers about the mouths of rivers. It takes a hook readily, and its 

 flesh is white, firm, and wholesome. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a dried Lake Huron specimen, identified by Cuvier. 

 Form — lengthened. The profile of the back is straight from the shoulder to the second 

 dorsal, it then inclines slightly towards the tail, but also in a straight line *. The anus is 

 under the fifth and sixth rays of the second dorsal, and just posterior to the middle point, 

 between the gill-opening and base of the caudal. The centre between the tip of the snout 

 and end of the lateral line is under the eleventh ray of the first dorsal. Head. — The inclina- 

 tion of the forehead equals the sloping upwards of the under-jaw, thus giving a conical profile 

 to the head, its apex formed by the extremities of both jaws being obtuse. The orbit is large 

 and oval, and is placed once and a half the length of its axis behind the tip of the upper- 

 jaw, and three lengths from the apex of the gill-cover. Each labial is composed of a single 

 strong bone without any supplementary piece : it is dilated towards its extremity, and its 

 under edge curves round the tip of the intermaxillary : it does not reach quite so far back as 



* Mr. Todd states the body to be ,; roundish and thicker upon the back, but sharper about the belly." The reverse of 

 this is indicated by the section represented in the Hist, des Poiss. 



c 2 



