REPORT ON THE PELAGIC FISHES. 21 



other British species. The maxillary extends backwards to below the middle of the 

 eye, and the skin of the ujiper as well as of the lower jaw is perforated by a series of 

 conspicuous pores. The mandibulary barbel is quite as long as the eye, and a small 

 cirrhus represents the nasal barbel on each side. The foremost dorsal spine is prolonged, 

 about half as long as the head. Vertical fins low, caudal with straiglit posterior margin. 

 Ventral fin very narrow, longer than the pectoral, about as long as the head without 

 the snout. 



Vent equidistant from the snout and the last anal ray. Scales not formed, visible 

 as flat granulations of the skin on the hinder part of the tail. 



? Raniceps trifurcus, Walb., young (PI. III. fig. E). 



The little fish, described and figured here, has been in my possession for several 

 years, without my being able to obtain other specimens of more advanced age, by the 

 aid of which its true relations could have been ascertained beyond doubt. It is 

 25 mm. long, and was obtained in the North Atlantic at the surface, in lat. 52° .3.3' N., 

 long. 26° 44' W. In referring it provisionally to Raniceps, a less amount of 

 change has to be assumed to take place, than if it were associated with genera 

 like Phycis, Brosme, &c. The fin-formula agrees fairly well with Raniceps, and it is 

 possible that the rudimentary first dorsal fin of this genus is absent altogether in the 

 young. 



D. 69. A. 50. P. 24. V. 8. In the general form of the body this little fish 

 resembles a Couch ia ; it is silvery, dark greenish on the back. Beside the very small 

 mandibulary barbel no other barbel can be distinguished. The length of the ventral 

 fin is a conspicuous feature of this young fish, the middle rays being nearly as long as 

 the head, and having the distal half of a black colour. 



The depth of the body is one-fifth of the total length, the length of the head one- 

 fourth. Eye large, longer than the short and obtuse snout, one-third of the length of 

 the head. Cleft of the mouth oblique, with the maxillary reaching to below the middle 

 of the eye. 



The dorsal and anal fins are very low, the former commencing midway between the 

 root of the ventral fin and the vent, and being preceded by a deep longitudinal groove, 

 which runs along the middle of the back towards the head ; no rudiments of an anterior 

 dorsal fin can be discerned in it. Caudal fin as in Couchia, with a straight posterior 

 margin. Pectoral fin with a broad base and the upper rays longest, reaching nearly as 

 far back as the ventral. Ventral inserted on the side of the abdomen, a little in front 

 of the root of the pectoral fin, and extending to the vent. Vent nearer to the root of 

 the caudal than to the end of the snout. 



