474 Gobioidei, Discocephali, and Taeniosomi 



alive and in the shallow water, and that he had landed it himself. 



"This I very much doubt, but when it was first landed it 

 was in a fine state of preservation and could have easily been 

 shipped to you, but he had cut it to such an extent that ship- 

 ment or preservation seemed out of the question when we first 

 saw it. 



"At the time it came ashore an unusual number of peculiar 

 fishes and sharks were found. Among others, I found a small 

 oarfish about three feet long in a bad state of preservation in 

 a piece of kelp. One side of it was nearly torn off and- the 

 other side was decayed." 



Mr. C. F. Holder gives this account of the capture of oar- 

 fishes in southern California: 



"From a zoological point of view the island of Santa Cata- 

 lina, which lies eighteen miles off the coast of Los Angeles 

 County, southern California, is very interesting, many rare 

 animals being found there. Every winter the dwellers of 

 the island find numbers of argonaut-shells, and several living 

 specimens hav^ been secured, one for a time living in the aqua- 

 rium which is maintained here for the benefit of students and 

 the entertainment of visitors. A number of rare and interest- 

 ing fishes wander inshore from time to time. Several years 

 ago I found various Scopeloid fishes, which up to that time 

 had been considered rare, and during the past few years I have 

 seen one oarfish (Regalecus russelli) alive, while another was 

 brought to me dead. From reports I judge that a number of 

 these very rare fishes have been observed here. The first was 

 of small size, not over two feet in length, and was discovered 

 swimming in shallow water along the beach of Avalon Bay. 

 I had an opportunity to observe the radiant creature before 

 it died. Its 'topknot' it can be compared to nothing else 

 was a vivid red or scarlet mass of seeming plumes the dorsal 

 fins, which merged into a long dorsal fin, extending to the tail. 

 The color of the body was a brilliant silver sheen splashed with 

 equally vivid black zebra-like stripes, which gave the fish a 

 most striking appearance. 



" The fish was a fragile and delicate creature, a very ghost 

 of a fish, which swam along where the water gently lapped 

 the sands with an undulatory motion, looking like one of its 



