278 "ENDEAVOUR" SCIENTIFIC RESULTS. 



The genus Bowenia, Haast, was based on three speci- 

 mens from Lake Ellesmere, and is said to differ from 

 Rhombosolea principally in having two pelvic fins of 

 equal size. In the type specimen of B. novce-zealandice 

 the pelvic fins are described as being joined together 

 posteriorly, and connected with the anal fin by a com- 

 plete membrane; in the other examples only the right 

 pelvic is joined to the anal, the left pelvic being quite 

 free. Mr. G. Archey, of the Canterbury Museum, informs 

 me that the types are no longer preserved in that institu- 

 tion and must be regarded as lost. 



Haast describes two of the specimens as having the 

 upper eye nearly on top of the head, and the dorsal fin 

 commencing on a fleshy hook projecting forward above 

 the eye; he concludes that they are both monstrosities, 

 and states that according to the local fishermen such 

 examples are far from uncommon. This condition of the 

 eye and dorsal fin is characteristic of completely ambi- 

 colorate Flatfishes, and the two examples described by 

 Haast were almost certainly pigmented on the blind side. 

 The type, the colour of which is described as "uniform 

 light brownish olive," may also have been ambicolorate, 

 but without exhibiting the delayed migration of the eye. 



Apart from the form of the pelvic fins, Boivenia 

 novcB-zealandice appears to be very similar to Rhombosolea 

 leporina and R. plebcia. Waite (Kec. Canterbury Mus., 

 I, 1911, p. 203) places it in the synonymy of the latter 

 species, but Haast's description is insufficient to enable 

 its position to be definitely settled. 



I am indebted to Mr. Archey for kindly sending me 

 a description and figure of another ambicolorate Rhom 

 ~bosolea, which was found in the Canterbury Museum in 

 a jar labelled R. plebeia. This specimen has the charac- 

 teristic fleshy hook above the eye, and two equal pelvic 

 fins, neither of which appears to have been connected 

 with the anal. In other respects it agrees very closely 

 with typical examples of R. plebeia. 



Among a collection of South Australian Flatfishes 

 sent to me by Mr. Waite is an almost completely ambi- 

 colorate Rhombosolea, with the fleshy hook well 

 developed. In this specimen, which in other characters 

 agrees closely with R. tapirina, the two equal pelvic fins 



