NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 521 



Type. Macronotothen Itossii Gill. 



The present is most nearly allied to the genus Notothenia, but is distinguished 

 from it by many important characters, all those above enumerated being pecu- 

 liar, with the exception of the size of the scales and the character of the 

 nostrils, both of which are common to it and Notothenia. The most striking 

 difference is the extent of the abdominal region, which entails a corresponding 

 modification of the fins. One of the most positive technical characters is the 

 brevity and pungency of the dorsal spines. 



Macronotothen is at present represented by only one species, which attains to 

 a length of about three feet. All of the species of Notothenia are compara- 

 tively small, the largest known not exceeding fifteen inches. 



Macron'otothen Rossii Gill. 



Notothenia ? Rossii Richardson, Ichthyology of the Erebus and Terror, p. 



9, pi. ix.,figs. 1, 2. 

 Notothenia Rossii Giinther, Catalogue of the Acanthopterygian Fishes, &c, 

 vol. ii., p. 263. 

 Habitat. Unknown. 



Subfamily ELEGINIIN^E Gill. 



Synonymy. 



Sciaenidae partim Cuvier, et auct. al. 

 Trachinina partim Giinther. 



Notothcnioida corpore fusiforme, linea, laterali ad pinnam caudalem exten- 

 dente. 



Form subfusiform in profile, highest under the first dorsal fin. Lateral line 

 uninterrupted and continued to the caudal fin. Head moderate or small, with 

 the profile in front of eyes convex or slightly decurved, and with the opercular 

 region somewhat tumid. Eyes principally in the anterior half of the head. 

 Mouth moderate and oblique. Spinous dorsal fin small and distinct from the 

 soft. The rays of the latter fin, as well as of the anal are branched. 



The Eleginiinas are distinguished by the subfusiform body and by the con- 

 tinuation of the lateral line above to the caudal fin. Like Nototheniina;, they 

 are inhabitants of the Southern seas ; but representatives extend much farther 

 towards the equator. 



Genus Eleginus Cuvier. 

 Synonymy. 



Eleginus Cuvier et Vol., Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, torn, v., p. 158. 

 Eleginus Gay, Richardson, Giinther. 



Body rather slender, subfusiform in profile, highest above the abdomen, 

 rather rapidly decreasing between the dorsal and anal fins, and with the caudal 

 peduncle slender. Scales rather small, and minutely ciliated. Head scaly 

 above and on the sides, but with the snout and preorbital region naked. Pores 

 of the nape, oculo-scapular grooves and forehead well developed. Nostrils 

 simple. Teeth of the jaws villiform and in a narrow band. First dorsal fin 

 triangular, with eight or nine rapidly decreasing spines. Second dorsal and 

 anal fins highest in front, and slightly inenrved behind. Anal fin distant from 

 the ventrals about a head's length, longer than that interval. Caudal fin emar- 

 ginated. Pectoral fins pointed. Ventrals with the second or third ray longest. 



Type. Eleginus maclovinus Cuv. et Val. 



Three species of Eleginus have been described, and a fourth nominal one 

 has been added by Sir John Richardson. The last is doubtless identical with 

 the typical species of the genus, having been described from specimens taken 

 at the same islands as those of which the Eleginus maclovinus is an inhabitant; 

 and the remarks concerning its abundance and uses themselves strongly cor- 



1861.] 



