388 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



distinct, is observable on the ventral fins, and on about a dozen rays 

 of the anal. 



The line of demarkation between the dark and the white parts of the 

 back was not regular and definite. It was broken and irregular, going 

 in a sort of abrupt and ragged course across. The white part was not 

 regularly so. Around the eyes, on the gill-cover, at and above the in- 

 sertion of the pectoral fin, and along the lateral line, were cloudy spots, 

 of different extent, and several of them of nearly the original dark com- 

 plexion. These spots on the white ground of the skin had a very close 

 resemblance to some cases I have seen of the partial remains here and 

 there of the original blackness in the skin of negroes, that were under- 

 going the change to white men. The length was five inches ; and the 

 breadth three. 



3. New-York Sole. (Pleuronectes mollis.) With cross-striped back, 

 calico-spotted belly, and soft mucous body, without pectoral fins. 



A small, ugly, and forbidding fish, of about six or seven inches long, 

 a somewhat oval shape, and three or four broad. Is soft and mucous, 

 without a spine or prickle about him. 



Back dark brown, striped transversely, that is, from the dorsal to the 

 anal fin, with five or more entire black lines, some imperfect ones, and 

 occasionally rounded and oblong spots and marks. 



Anal, dorsal, and caudal fins, striped through with black, though 

 there are sometimes interruptions, especially in the tail. 



Pectoral fins wholly wanting. Eyes minute and approximated. 

 Mouth small, oblique, and toothless. Back overlays the upper jaw, 

 and, from its projecting extremity, the dorsal fin begins, and extends 



almost to the tail. 



Belly pale brown, or rather a dirty white, overspread with roundish 

 or circular spots of dusky brown, exhibiting a calico appearance. 



Nether side of both jaws covered with soft warts or tubercles, ex- 



