STROMATEID^E. Ill 



inches," ..." the vent at about the middle of the body." This measurement, as 

 will be seen by his figure, does not include the caudal fin, while at the vent it was 

 " five inches in depth." He mentions having made a drawing of the fish before 

 it was preserved, which probably had solely allusion to its colours, as the figure 

 in the " Fishes of the British Isles " is evidently taken from the stuffed one. If 

 reference is made to the specimen in its present state at the British Museum 

 its length will be found to have increased from 19 inches, as it was when 

 captured, to 22 inches as it is now when mounted, or 3 inches too long, which 

 length can only have been obtained at the expense of its height. Above the 

 vent at the centre of its length, instead of its height being 5/19 of the total, 

 it is about 5/22, and this disproportion is still further augmented in Couch's 

 figure where it is about 5/26. If, as stated in the British Museum Catalogue, the 

 height of the body is 5 in the total (when according to Couch the body was 

 5 inches high), the length of the entire fish should have been 25 inches, 

 whereas it was merely 19. 



Habitat. This unique example was thrown on the shore not far from Looe, 

 in Cornwall, in the middle of February, 1859, when it came into Mr. Couch's 

 possession, and was presented by him to the British Museum where I drew 

 my figure from the specimen giving the length of the head and fin rays as 

 existing, but reducing the stretched skin to what obtained when recently 

 captured. The mouth seems a little distorted, and the fin rays in many 

 instances are broken. The specimen, in short, has been injured by its captor, 

 broken by its preserver, and is somewhat deteriorated by age. 



2. Centrolophus pompilus, Plate XL, fig 2. 



Pompilus, Rondel, viii, c, 14, p. 250, c. fig. ; Gesner, Aquat. iv, p, 753 ; Aldr. 

 iii, c. 19, p. 325 ; Jonston, De Pise. lib. i, tit. i, c. 2, art. ii, p. 14, t. iii, f. 5 ; 

 Ray, p. 101. Pompilus rondeletii, Will. p. 215, t. 0. 1, f. 6. The blade fish, Jago 

 in Borlase, Cornwall, p. 271, t. xxvi, f. 8. Black ruffe, Pennant, Brit. Zool. 

 (Ed. 1) iii, p. 260 (Ed. 2) iii, p. 228. Merle, Duhamel, Peches, ii, Sect, iv, p. 37, 

 pi. vi, f. 2. 



Goryphcena pompilus, Artedi, Gen. 16, syn. 29 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1193 ; 

 Bonuaterre, p. 60, pi. xxxiv, f. 130 ; Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 180. 



Perca nigra, Gmel. Linn. p. 1321. 



Holocentrus niger, Lacep. iv, pp. 330, 357 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 558. 



Centrolophus niger, Lacep. iv, pp. 441, 442, pi. x, f. 2. 



Centrolophus pompilus, Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 334, pi. eclxix ; Yarrell, Bi'it. Fish. 

 (Ed. 1) i, p. 158, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 247 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 247 ; Cuv. Regne Anim. 111. 

 Poiss. pi. lxv ; Bonap. Faun. Ital. Pesc. c. fig.; Guichen. Explor. Alger. Poiss. 

 p. 63; White, Catal. Brit. Fish. p. 39; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 403 ; Canestr. Fauna 

 Ital. p. 105; Andrews, Proc. R. Dub. Soc. vi, p. 68; Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital. 

 p. 26 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, ii, p. 492, c. fig. 



Acentrolophus maculosiis, Nardo, Prod. Ich. Adr. sp. 62. 



Centrolophus liparis, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 336 ; Cuv. and Val. ix, p. 345. 



Centrolophus morio, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 342. 



Coryphcena morio, Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. p. 370. 



Pompilus rondeletii, Lowe, Pro. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 81. 



Black fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 123, pi. xc. 



B.vi. D. 38-41, P. 21, V. 1/5, A. 23-25, C. 17. Ccec. pyl. 6-0, Vert. 11/14. 



Length of head 5, of caudal fin 5 to 5j, height of body 4 to 5 in the total 

 length. Eye which has a sort of skinny lid, is rather high up, diameter 31 to 4 

 in the length of the head, and 3/4 to 1 diameter apart. Snout rather obtuse 

 and slightly projecting over the upper jaw. Jaws of nearly equal length 

 anteriorly, and reaching posteriorly to beneath the first third of the orbit. 

 The profile from the dorsal fin to the snout is slightly concave over the occiput. 

 Teeth minute ones in the jaws. Fins the dorsal commence? on a vertical line 

 above the first third of the pectoral fin, the length of its base equalling from 



