362 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



taken, in the opinion of some persons, like that of boiled crabs. Skin 

 smooth and scaleless. Lateral line almost straight, and near the mid- 

 dle. Body ensiform, or flattened sideways, and tapering toward the 

 tail. When held up to the light, the backbone can be distinguished. 

 The pectoral fins small, rounded, and yellow, composed of twelve or 

 thirteen rays. Between them and the sternum is a minute spine, and 

 another at the commencement of the dorsal, right opposite to it. 



Head rather small, and distinguished from the body by a groove or 

 depression. Cheeks have a distended or inflated appearance. Mouth 

 somewhat contracted; and the jaws furnished each with a row of sharp 

 little teeth. Eyes large, approximated, and of a reddish yellow hue. 

 Gill membrane five rayed, and projecting over the lower side of the 

 neck. Belly, pectoral and caudal fins yellow. Branchial membrane of 

 the same colour, but paler. Anal fin narrow, and yellowish, but alter- 

 nated with pale brown spots, or marks, to the number of sixteen, or 

 thereabout. Dorsal of a similar hue, though more faint than the others, 

 and reaching almost from the back of the head, in the form of a nar- 

 row fillet, quite to the caudal. 



The anal fin is not so wide as the dorsal; and extends from the vent 

 to the caudal. 



From the points of junction with the caudal and anal, the caudal pro- 

 ceeds in a rounded or convex and delicate form, composed of eleven or 

 twelve rays. The skin is of a dark brown, with indistinct spots and 

 clouds; and, by careful inspection, ten or more darker spots can be 

 traced straddling the back, and bestriding the dorsal fin. Caught in 

 the salt water at Brooklyn. 



2. Cirrhous ophidium. (Ophidium barbatum.) With a beard of un- 

 equal cirrhi, hyaline body, and a black border around the dorsal, 

 caudal, and anal fins. 



