1854.] 105 



Zoolosischer Atlas enthaltend Abbildungen und Beschreibungen neuer Thie- 

 rarten, beobachtet von Dr. Fried. Escholtz. Berlin, 1829. 



Voyage dans lTnde par Victor Jacquemont. Atlas. Paris, 1844. (Sitane, 

 Calotes, Chamaeleo vulgaris.) 



The Zoolouy of the Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle; edited and superintended by 

 Charles Darwin, Esq., M.A., F.R S., F.G.S.C, &c. London, 1842. 



The Zoology of Capt. Beechy's Voyage. London, 1839. 



Guerin. Iconographie du regne animal. Paris, 1829 44. 



Faune Franchise. 3 v. 4to. Paris. a 



Description of four new species of Viviparous Fishes front Sacramento River, and 

 the Bay of San Francisco. Read before the California Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, May 15th, 1854. By W. P. Gibbons, M.D. 



Hysterocarpus Traskii, Gibbons. 



Body ovate, sub-compressed. Jaws with a single row of conical teeth. 

 Opercle and preopercle with scales, and with a membrane round the edge. 

 Dorsal fin commences opposite the pectoral, has seventeen strong curved 

 spines, the first short, the succeeding ones increasing regularly in length to the 

 sixth, which is the longest, and eleven articulated rays. The spinous rays lie 

 in a groove, which conceals the first two ; the remainder project an inch and a 

 quarter above the scales, and lapping by each other alternately form, in this 

 position, a double row. 



Pectoial subquadrangular, with the lower edge rounded, and the first ray 

 short and subspinous. First ray of the ventrals shorter than the others, spinous 

 and curved. 



First three rays of the anal fin with short, thick and curved spines, the middle 

 one largest. 



Body arched, the radius of curvature being least along the anterior half of 

 the dorsum. Facial line about 45 : profile slightly incurved along the line of 

 the interparietal and frontal bones. Snout protractile, lips thick, lower jaw 

 longest. Eyes rather large and near the facial outline- Nostrils double, 

 covered with a valve half way between the anterior edge of the orbit and the 

 upper lip. 



Lateral line nearly concurrent with the back. Scale? large, deciduous. 

 Smaller on the summit of the head, and on the opercle, at the base of the tail, 

 anal and ventral fins, and on the space bounded anteriorly by the ventrals and 

 pectorals. 

 'Extreme length 6.5 in., width 3 in., weight 2 oz. 



Color. Back varying from ash color to dark brown ; irregular black patches, 

 approximating somewhat to bands, across the sides. Belly lemon yellow, 

 becoming lighter and blending with the ash color up the sides. Sides, in some, 

 punctated with black. Dark and yellow patches on the fins. D. 28, P. 18, V. 6, 

 A. 25 to 28, C 20. 



Var. B. Facial line not so angular as the other, head deeper, and less dorsal 

 curvature. 



The anatomy of these fishes is similar to that of the viviparous species 

 which I have already described, except that the uterus, instead of being bipar- 

 tite, is ovoid, having but a single umbilical cord, which returns its venous blood 

 into the portal system. Intestinal canal 6 in. long, enlarged at each extremity. 

 The specimens of this fish were presented to me for description by my friend, Dr. 

 J. B. Trask, who obtained them through the kindness of Mr. Morris, from the 

 lagoons of the Sacramento river, and from the river itself, where they are found 

 as high up as the fishermen have yet been. They are the first specimens of 

 the fresh water vivipara that have come to hand. 



Hyperprosopon argenteum, Gibbons. 



Body compressed, oval. Jaws with a double row of teeth, inner row imper- 

 fectly developed. Cheeks and opercle scaly, membranous round the edges. 



