MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YO&K. 465 



Two dorsal fins, whereof the first is bluntly spinous, enveloped m the 

 loose wrapping skin. 



Second dorsal and anal clouded obliquely. Caudal banded trans- 

 versely. 



First ray of the ventral fins incurved, and covered with pleats and 

 puckers ending in a skinny point. 



A spot like an excretory duct in the axilla, behind the pectoral fin. 



Soft and inconsiderable eminences on various other parts of the body. 



Ventral fins a little forward of the pectoral. 



Rays, Br. 6. P. 19. V. 2. D. 3—27. A. 2L C. 12. 



2. Bellows-fish, or common Angler* (Lophius piscator. With broad 

 iiead, enormous mouth, jaws armed with sharp teeth ; and a row of cirrhi 

 all around the chin, and extending to the pectoral fin on each side. 



The length of the individual now before me, is three feet ; and the 

 greatest breadth, without including the pectoral appendages, sixteen 

 inches. His depth about three inches and a half. He was taken with 

 a hook, in the Atlantic ocean, near New-York, by a man who was fishing 

 for cod. The present specimen is considered a small one, for the 

 species. 



The colour of the back was a brownish olive, and of the belly white, 

 with a dirty tinge behind. There are no scales ; and the skin is loose, 

 and may be pulled from the flesh in folds. 



There is a row of cirrhi, some of which are rather more than an inch 

 long with foliated edges around his chin ; and reaching along on both 

 sides to the pectoral fins. Between, and among these, are numerous 

 smaller ones irregularly disposed. From the pectoral fins quite to the 

 tail, the sides are beset with cirrhi, some of which are an inch in length. 

 They occupy a limited space along the sides, but are not planted straight 

 nor in a row. 



There is a ray almost seven inches long, which arises at the distance 



61 



