{06 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OP NEW-YORK. 



Length seven inches ; depth full three ; thickness scarcely one. 

 Taken in the bay of New-York. 



Head blunt, with the upper jaw much larger, and somewhat longer 

 than the lower. Tail slender and deeply forked. 



Colour shining white, with a bluish tinge on the back ; and the back 

 itself elevated into a sort of ridge supporting the dorsal fin. This fin 

 consists of five, six, or seven spines, and twenty-five filamentous rays. 

 Of the spines, the foremost points horizontally forward, and the other 

 six slant backward ; and of the filaments, the five or six are longer than 

 the rest. Snout ends abruptly forward. 



The anal fin has twenty-one soft rays, of which the three or four 

 foremost are of greater length. Both this and the dorsal extend to 

 the slender part of the tail. The ventral fins are four rayed, small, 

 and almost connected together by a membrane. The caudal, anal, 

 ventral, and pectoral fins are beautifully tinged with yellow. 



The lateral line occasionally departs into small serpentine curves ; 

 and there are parallel waving or zigzag lines between the back and belly, 

 along the broad side. The skin is free from scales, and the general 

 figure resembles the stromat, or harvest fish. 



9. Speckled Grunts. (Lahrus fulvo-maculatus.} With yellowish 

 horizontal stripes below the lateral line, and oblique ones slanting 

 toward the back, above it. 



Length five inches ; depth one inch and a half. Caught in the bay 

 of New-York. 



The colour of this fish is bluish silvery, with a lateral line nearly 

 corresponding to the convexity of the back. Above that line there are 

 rows of yellow speckled stripes, almost parallel to each other, which 

 run obliquely toward the dorsal fin. Below it, similar rows extend, in 

 nearly a horizontal direction, from the gill-opening to the tail. The 

 belly and chin are more pale and whitish than the back. 



