472 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW- YORK. 



the tail, three feet and eleven inches ; from the back to the belly, two 

 feet ; and from the point of the dorsal to the tip of the anal fin, five 

 feet and one inch. He weighed upward of two hundred pounds. For 

 the generosity of my friend Commodore Rodgers, of the navy, in be- 

 stowing a fine preparation of the North American sun fish, see vol. xv. 

 of Medical Repository, p. 195. Sailors have a superstitious reverence 

 for them, and seldom disturb them. Small fishes have been observed to 

 attend then), as pilot fishes do the shark. 



TETRODON. 



Generic character. 



Jaws bony, divided at the tip. Body roughened beneath. Ventral 

 fins wanting. 



1. Curved Tetrodon. (Tetrodon curvus.) With curved back, pouch- 

 ed belly, and brassy complexion. 



Length about two inches and a half; depth rather more than one ; 

 and girth, when the belly is inflated, nearly three. Inhabits the bays of 

 Long-Island. 



The back is considerably arched ; and the belly capable of great dis- 

 tention. The back is smooth, and dark brown, variegated with faint 

 bars across. The belly is dull yellow, and roughened by short sharp 

 spines disposed in quincunx. Between the back and belly is a smooth 

 brass-coloured stripe or riband, from head to tail. 



Upper teeth project. Mouth small. Lower jaw shuts within the 

 upper. Eyes large and almost halfway between the nose-extremity and 

 the gill-openings. One dorsal fin, and that much behind. Tail taper- 

 ing, and the rays of its extremity long and rather forked, with fifteen 

 rays. 



