238 
BUTTEKFISH. 
gill-covers, narrow, even, joined to the border of the root of the 
tail; anal from the vent to the root also of the tail; the last- 
named fin round. Rays of the dorsal fin seventy-eight, of the 
anal forty, the two first firm; pectoral fin moderate, round, 
eleven or twelve rays; ventrals very small, the rays two;^ the 
tail round. The general colour brownish yellow, sometimes 
mottled; a dusky line from the eyes over the gills, and one 
(more deeply marked) from the eye downward. A row of 
dark, almost black spots along the back from near the beginning 
of the dorsal fin to the root of the tail, each one bordered 
with a ring of light colour. They stretch from the back, each 
one over its own portion of the fin, and vary in number fiom 
eight to twelve, the two or three nearest the tail more obscuie; 
anal fin with oblique pink bands or stripes; pectoral fins 
commonly yellow. 
