S66 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



Colour along the back a pale ash, with tints of blue and green. Ob 

 each side of the dorsal fin, twenty-two or more openings in the skin, 

 like excretory ducts, in a longitudinal direction. In front of the dorsal 

 fin, a spine directed forward. Remaining colour, a lucid white, reflect- 

 ing light from the broad side, in variegated iridescent tints. Some- 

 times there is a smutty patch behind the pectoral fin. 



No teeth in the palate or throat ; but the stomach contains an appa- 

 ratus of toothed projections to aid concoction. The sides are marked 

 from back to belly with parallel waved or zigzag lines ; but those lines 

 are not tints of the skin. Caudal fin deeply forked. .Lower jaw shuts 

 within the upper, and has the appearance, after death, of seeming longer 

 as it gapes open. Rays, Br. 7. P. 20. D. 45. A. 37. C. 25. A delicate 

 fish to eat. 



2. Harvest Jish. (JStromateus longipinnis.) With extended dorsal 

 and anal fins. 



So called by some of the fishermen, because he visits the coast about 

 the season of harvest. Length scarcely seven inches; depth four, and 

 including the dorsal and anal fins, more than six ; thickness not above 

 one. Head short, blunt, and associated with the body. Nose obtuse, and 

 rather receding toward the upper lip. Mouth small. Lower jaw shuts 

 within the upper. Lips beset with minute serrated teeth. Tongue, 

 palate, and throat, smooth and spotted. Skin silvery, with tints of blue, 

 green, and iridescent. A cloudy patch extending from the nose toward the 

 dorsal fin, and over the eyebrow to the gill opening. Inky patches now 

 and then on the belly and toward the tail, which change their hues ac- 

 cording to the angle of light, and in certain positions, appear beautifully 

 red and purple. Back bluish, with occasional clouds. First fifteen 

 dorsal rays longer than the rest, and five or six of them measure almost 

 two inches. 



The foremost six or seven of the anal more than two inches in length. 



