No, VI.] 



NOTICES OF THE FISHES. 



715 



to the nostrils is raised into a slight ridge, and the sides of the head are rounded off. 

 The opercula and infra-orbitar bones which cover a great part of the cheek are 

 yellowish with metallic lustre. The eye is moderately large, and the anterior part 

 of the orbit is half an inch from the extremity of the snout. The irides are yellowish 

 white with a silvery lustre. 



The nostrils are double and situated about five lines from the end of the snout. 

 The posterior openings are rather larger: the anterior ones are surrounded by a soft 

 membranous border. 



The mouth, which is very small, is, when stretched to the utmost, nearly quadran- 

 gular, and has the broad extremities of the superior maxillary bones projecting on 

 its sides ; when shut it has the appearance of a transverse slit about a quarter of an 

 inch in length, formed above by the intermaxillary bones, which descend perpendicu. 

 larly from the snout, and below by the very obtuse symphysis or truncated extremity 

 of the lower jaw. The superior maxillary bones are twice as large as the intermaxil- 

 laries, and the crura of the lower jaw form with their transverse symphysis three 

 sides of a rectangle. 



There are no teeth whatever. 



The branchiostegous membrane contains seven, rays. The branchial arches are 

 furnished with single rows of small soft processes. 



Intestines. — The oesophagus and stomach form one tube, which makes a curvature 

 upwards for one third of its length, and terminates in a very contracted pylorus. 

 It is not thickened like the stomach of the attihhawmegh. The rest of the gut runs 

 in a straight line to the anus. The caeca are crowded round its commencement, 

 and descend in two or three rows for one third of its length. They are in number 

 between eighty and ninety. The lower third of the gut has its internal membrane 

 disposed in circular rugae, except about half an inch at the anus. The whole gut 

 and caeca look black from the colour of their contents. 



Fins. — The dorsal fin commences six inches and a half from the snout, is one inch 

 and three quarters high, and has eleven rays exclusive of two short ones, which lie 

 against the base of the first. The adipose fin is attached nearly its whole length, 

 and has a few scales on its base. The ventrals are opposite to the dorsal. The 

 anal fin has ten strong rays ; a considerable portion of the tail, which is slender, lies 

 behind it. The anus is eleven inches from the mouth. The caudal fin is slightly 

 crescentic, its base is covered with scales. The fins have in general a yellowish 

 tinge. 



B. 7. P. D. 11. A. 10. V. C. 



This fish preys on small insects. It spawns in September. We found it in the 

 small rivers about Fort Enterprise and in the Arctic Sea. It occurs also in Hudson's 

 Bay, and is well known to the Esquimaux about Churchill by the name of okeugnak. 



4 Y 2 



