HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 421 



head an arched ridge commences on a line with the anterior angle of the eye, and 

 is continued to a line above the origin of the pectorals ; thence a straight line is 

 pursued to the dorsal fin. The sides of the head project out from the body, — 

 quite prominently over the eyes to the bianchial aperture. The eyes are oblong, 

 small, convex, very movable in their orbits ; their larger diameter is one fourth 

 greater than their smaller. The nostiils are double, very small, situated just in 

 front of the eyes. The mouth is small. The jaws are armed with a broad bony 

 plate, much worn in front, sharp at its edges. The temporal orifice is oval, and 

 situated just in front of the pectoral fin. 



The dorsal and anal fins are triangular, and situated at the upper and lower 

 posterior extremities of the fish ; the former slightly the posterior, These fins 

 are almost precisely equal in their length and height 



The caudal fin borders the posterior extremity of the body, and reaches nearly 

 to the base of the dorsal and anal fins, although it is not really connected with 

 them. This fin is scalloped, or divided into digitations, about eight in number, the 

 fourth of which is the longest. The digitations in the specimen here desciibed are 

 much more unequal than in that mentioned in my " Report." 



The pectorals are one third the height of the dorsal fin ; their length is equal to 

 more than one third their height. 



The anus is large and corrugated, and situated a short distance in front of the 

 anal fin. Diiectly in front of the anus commences a very obvious carina, which is 

 continued to a line opposite the oiigin of the pectorals. The very dense texture 

 of these fins renders it about impossible to determine with accuracy the number 

 of their rays. As nearly as I have been able to distinguish, they are as follows : — 

 D. 13. P. 12. A. 13. a 8-9. 



Length, five to six feet. 



Remarks. Three specimens of this fish, carefully examined, present the following 

 proportions. 



One, described in my " Report," measured fifty-four inches in length ; depth across 

 from the middle of the pectorals, two and a half feet ; from the top of the dorsal 

 to the extremity of .the anal fin, six and a half feet. Weight, two hundred pounds. 



A second, seen by Dr. Jeffries Wyman, also noticed in my " Report," measured 

 fifty-four inches in length ; diameter of the operculum, three inches ; of the eye, two 

 inches ; greatest breadth of the fish, thirty inches ; pectoral fins, eight inches high, 

 six long, composed of ten rays ; anal fin, eighteen inches high, ten long, composed 

 of eighteen rays ; nine scallops to the tail, six in the broadest part. 



VOL. vm. 55 



