VAAGMAER. 219 



of which rises a small spine directed forwards. The shields 

 and their spines increase in size towards the thin part of the 

 tail, from whence they again decrease, although the last shield 

 is much larger than those of the central part. 



The short pectoral fins are situated nearer the ventral 

 margin than to the lateral line, and nearly opposite the apex 

 of the gill-cover. The number of the rays is in the right 

 pectoral fin eleven, in the left only ten. 



Of the ventral fins, there remain only some short roots of 

 the rays, situated close to the ventral margin, in a direction 

 nearly parallel with, but a little further back, than the pecto- 

 ral fins. The number of the rays is six. 



Of the rays of the anterior dorsal fin only five roots are 

 left, the first of which is somewhat thicker than the rest, and 

 situated five inches eight lines from the edge of the closed 

 jaws. The interval between this fin and the commencement 

 of the posterior dorsal fin, is twice the distance between two 

 rays. The posterior, or long dorsal fin, has one hundred and 

 seventy-two rays, of which the first ray is situated six inches 

 and one line from the point of the jaw ; the last ray half an 

 inch from the last vertebrse. The anterior part is very low, 

 increasing in height by degrees until it reaches the com- 

 mencement of the last fourth part of the total length, where 

 the height of the present specimen amounts to three inches 

 eleven lines, or about one half of the greatest height of the 

 body ; from thence it decreases rapidly, so that the last ray 

 is only a little longer than the first. The rays are slender,, 

 flexible spines, without the slightest trace of transverse marks; 

 their articulating surface dilates into a saddle-shaped shield, 

 with a short curved point in the centre, by which a number 

 of small sharp bodies appear along the root of the fin. The 

 rays themselves, however, are quite smooth to the touch, and, 

 under a lens, are, as M. Valenciennes in his own specimen 

 found them, a little sharp. 



