404 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OP NEW-YORK. 



Lives in fresh water altogether, and is taken both by the hook and 

 seine, for pastime and food. 



Rays, Br. 6. P. 14. V. 6. D. 21. A. 12. C. 17. 



5. Big Porgee of New-York. (Labrus versicolor.) With change- 

 able colours, forked tail, and large silvery eyes. 



Length twelve inches, and sometimes more ; depth five, and upward. 

 Back regularly gibbous ; belly evenly swelling, making him a handsome 

 fish. Eyes large, with silvery irides, and a brow, or projection forward. 

 Mouth moderate. Lower jaw rather shorter than the upper. 



Lips plain and distinct. Within them two rows of short blunt teeth, 

 bedded in each jaw. Palate and throat smooth. No tongue. Gill- 

 cover tripartite and scaly, but with smooth edges. Gill-openings ample. 

 Lateral line nearly corresponding with the curve of the back, and to- 

 ward the tail inclined downward. 



Tail moderately forked. Scales firmly adherent and decussating. 

 Anal fin closes into a furrow. One dorsal fin, which also shuts into a 

 groove along the back ; it consists of twenty-six rays, the first twelve 

 of which are spinous, and three or four also filamentous, near their tops. 



The cheek, or space between the eye and upper lip, reddish, or 

 faintly purplish. Nose, forehead, and brow pale, sub-semi-transparent, 

 smooth, soft, and scaleless. Behind the eye, upward, a spot that is 

 whitish, with variegations of green and blue. 



Broad side, changeable with altering hues, as the position varies, of 

 pale browm, greenish yellow, yellowish red, and reddish white, with a 

 mixture of blue occasionally interposed. Neck and belly white. A 

 variegated concave scale at the junction of the gill-opening with the 

 lateral line ; and a scalloped and clouded continuation of smaller scales 

 thence to the nape of the neck. A short stiff" spine, in front of the 

 dorsal, pointing forward. An incumbent pointed scale near the origin 

 of the ventral fin. 



Rays, Br. 5. P. 15. V. 6. D. 26. A. 15. C. 17, 



