MiTCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 405 



6. Little Porgee. (Lahrus obliquus.) With raised back, oblique 

 bars, and concave tail. 



Length eight inches ; depth almost three. Has a striking similitude 

 to the grunts, but is more high-backed and gibbous. Mouth small and 

 toothless. Lower jaw received within the upper. Tail concave. 



Hue whitish, with blackish shades. Fourteen narrow zones slant 

 obliquely from the back toward the belly. Two dorsals. 



Rays, Br. 7. P. 20. V. 5. D. 9—33. A. 14. C. 17. 



7. Grunts. (Labrus grunniens.) With zoned sides, bearded jaw, and 

 even tail. 



Length seven inches ; depth two and a quarter. Back convex, and 

 almost gibbous. Mouth inferior and small. Lower jaw shuts within 

 the upper ; has asperities from the points of minute teeth ; and after 

 death, opens hy its own elasticity. 



Body whitish, and banded with three or four zones. The whitish 

 scales alternated with dusky. Tail even. Lateral line bent upward. 

 Two dorsal fins. 



Lower jaw bearded with a dozen or more slender cirrhi, situated 

 along the edge of the gill membrane. Throat armed with an appara- 

 tus of strong teeth, for cracking and grinding. The first anal ray short 

 and hard ; the second longer, strong and spinous. 



This fish is called, by the fishermen, young sheep's head, and young 

 drum, from its resemblance to those creatures. The common name 

 is given on account of a grunting noise he is supposed sometimes to 

 make. 



Rays, Br. 7. P. 17. V. 6. D. 10—23. A. 7. C. 19. 



8. Thorn-backed Grunts. (Labrus spinosus.) With a lateral line 

 somewhat serpentine, and seven spiny processes in front of the dorsal 

 fin, of which spines the first inclines forward, and the rest slope back- 

 ward. 



