422 HISTORY or the fishes of MASSACHUSETTS. 



The individual now described measured fifty-four inches in length, and was judged 

 to weigh nearly five hundred pounds. 



This species is occasionally met with during the summer season in Massachusetts 

 Bay, sluggishly swimming near the surface. On account of the great elasticity of 

 its exterior, it is captured with difiiculty, by being gaffed at or near the branchial 

 aperture. Dr. Yale, writing of this species to me, observes : '* It has an entire car- 

 tilaginous case of an inch and a half to two inches thick, covering the whole body, 

 perfectly white and milky in its appearance, and very elastic. A small ball of it, 

 cut out and thrown with moderate force upon the ground, will rebound from fifteen 

 to twenty feet." Its liver, which weighs eight or ten pounds, is very oily, furnish- 

 ing two or more quarts of oil, which is used by the fishermen to grease their 

 masts ; it is also sometimes used by painters, although Captain Atwood tells me 

 he does not think it preferable in this respect to other fish-oil. It is considered 

 by many fishermen a valuable application for sprains and bruises, and by such it 

 is preserved for these purposes. 



Upon the exterior of the specimens described in my " Eeport " were attached 

 several parasites ; at the base of, or near to the fins, a large number of the Pen- 

 nella sagitfa were found imbedded, with their pinnated extremities projecting like 

 tentaculse, and to them were firmly fixed specimens of the Cineras vittata. One 

 beautiful specimen of the Tristoma coccineum^ figured by Yarrell as being taken from 

 this species, was found firmly attached to the posteiior extremity of the fish. Closely 

 attached to the branchiae were a dozen or more specimens of the Cecrops LatreilUi 

 The thickness of the exterior varies from two to three inches. A large number 

 of TmnicB were found in the intestines. Several Cysticerci were imbedded in the 

 substance of the liver. 



Massachusetts, Storer. New York, Mitchill, Dekay. 



FAMILY XXV. BALISTID-^, 



Body compressed. Snout prolonged from the eyes. Mouth small, with a few 

 distinct teeth in each jaw. Skin roughened with prickles or scales. Dorsals, two ; 

 the anterior sometimes represented by a single spine. Ventrals often wanting or 

 indistinct. Pelvic bone prominent. 



