REPORT ON THE PELAGIC FISHES. 37 



rays ; posterior rays of the dorsal and anal fin blackish ; ventrals black, with the inner 

 and outer rays white. 



One specimen, 7 inches long, came on board ship between the Fiji and New 

 Hebrides Islands, August 16, 1874. 



(?) Exocoetus affinis, Gthr. 



Two specimens, 1 and 1^ inches long, were obtained in Gulf- weed, south of Bermuda. 

 It is impossible to determine whether these young Exocoetus should be referred to 

 Exocoetus lineatus or the allied Exocoetus affinis. 



Exocoetus ro7tdeletii, C. V. 



Two specimens, | and 1 inch long, off the Cape Verde Islands, on April 24 and 29, 

 1876. 



Exocoetus simus, C. V. 



Exocoetus siinus, Cuv. Val., xix. p. 105. 



Not having had a specimen of this species before, I give here a detailed specific 

 description. 



D. 12. A. 8. L. lat. 46. 



Closely allied to Exocoetus callopterus and Exocoetus brachysoma. 



The height of the body is one-fifth or less than one-fifth of the total length, the 

 length of the head one-fourth or less than one-fourth. The depth of the head is some- 

 what more fchiin the distance between the extremity of the snout and the hind margin 

 of the praeoperculum. Snout obtuse and depressed, its length being three-fifths of the 

 diameter of the eye, which is a little less than one-third of the length of the head, and 

 less than the width of the interorbital space, which is flat. The pectoral fin extends 

 to, or somewhat beyond, the end of the dorsal. Ventral fins midway between the root 

 of the caudal and the gill-opening, not extending to the end of the base of the anal. 

 The dorsal commences far in advance of the anal, its anterior rays being half as long as 

 the head. The distance between the first dorsal ray and the first rudimentary caudal 

 ray is consjncuously more than the length of the head. There are thirty-one scales 

 between the occiput and the origin of the dorsal, and eight longitudinal series of scales 

 between the origin of the dorsal and lateral line. Some (the largest) specimens have 

 some round black spots in small or at least not considerable number between the 

 pectoral rays. In other specimens these spots are only indicated, and again in others 



