196 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



It is 44 inches long to the base of the middle caudal rays, it is more nearly related to 

 lepidopoides than to any other species; in fact, it is not very closely related to any of the 

 others. If we may trust the figures and descriptions of I. lepidopoides our new species has 

 a larger number of dorsal spines and rays and a much smaller number of dorsal and anal 

 Unlets. T. lepidopoides is said to be uniform silvery, the back somewhat plumbeous and 

 the fins gray. Our species is uniformly purplish brown, the spinous dorsal, pectorals, ven- 

 trals, and inside of the mouth blackish. 



RUVETTUS, Cocco. 

 Suvettus, Cocco, Giorn. Sci. Sicilia, xlii, 1829, 2.— Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1862, 126. 



I !i idy fusiform and somewhat elongated. First dorsal with less than 25 spines. Spinous 

 dorsal continguous to the soft, variable. Pectorals equidisant from the back and breast, or 

 nearer the latter. Abdomen keeled. Tail not keeled. Ventrals I, 5. Dorsal and anal 

 unlets developed. Dorsal and anal unlets 2. Lateral line obsolete. Skin with bony, 

 oblique tubercles. 



There have been two supposedly distinct forms described, one the Ruvettus pretiosus 

 from the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and one, the Tfiyrsites scholar is of Poey, 

 from Cuba. It is probable that Dr. Giinther is right in believing them to be identical, al- 

 though no one except Poey has examined this accidental form, and the two have never been 

 placed side by side. 



liurcttus is no doubt similar in its habits to the closely-related Thyrsitops, which de- 

 cends below the hundred-fathom line. 



RUVETTUS PEETIOSUS, Cocco. (Figure 210.) 

 El Escolar. 



Suvettus pretiosus, Cocco, in Giornale <li Scienze per la Sicilia, xi.n, 1829, 21; Nuov. Giorn. Lett. Pisa, fasc. 

 i. win. — Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, Peso., pi. xlii. — Capello, Jorn. Acad. Sci., Lisbon I, 260; Cat. 

 Peixes, Portugal, 1880, 16.— Gill, Proc.Acad. Nat. Sci., l'liila., 1862, P26— Poey, Synopsis, 363 ; Enumer- 

 ate, 74.— Steixdaciineu, Sitzb. Ak. Wiss. Wien., 1867, 102. 



Tkyrsites pretiosus, Gcxtiikr. Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. n, 1860, 351; Challenger Report, xxn, 268.— Canestrini, 

 Pesci d' Italia, 189. — Giglioli, Elenco, 84. 



Tetragonurus simplex, Lowe, Proc. Zoiil. Soc, London, 1833, 143. 



Jphtrus simplex, Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc, London, n, p. 180. 



Bovetus Temminkii, Cantraine, Giorn. Sci. et Litt. Pisa, 1883 (tide Poey.) 



Eovetlus Temminkii, Valenciennes, in Webb and Berthelot, Poiss. Cauar., 52, plate. 



Acanthoderma Temminkii, Cantilun'e, .lonrn. Acad. Sci. et Belles-Lettres, Bruxelles, 1835, x, pi. I. 



Thyrsites acanthoderma, Lowk, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1839, 78. 



Thyrsites soholaris, Poey, Memorias, Hist. Nat. Cuba, i. 1S54, 372, pi. xxxii, fig. 1; 2-n, p. 16; Eepertorio 

 Fis. Nat. Cuba., n, 13. 



A Scombroid, with elongate, fusiform, somewhat compressed body; its height is equal 

 to one-sixth of its length (without caudal); the length of its head about one-fourth. Ab- 

 domen with a denticulated keel. Body covered with bony plates, remote from each other, 

 and armed with spines. No lateral line. The maxillary extends beyond the vertical from 

 the posterior margin of the orbit. First dorsal fin composed of 15 spines, IS rays, and 2 

 separate finlets ; the spinous portion received in a furrow. The second dorsal nearly simi- 

 lar and opposite. Two detached anal finlets. Caudal strongly forked, the upper lobe the 

 largest. Color, above, blackish brown ; below, dull white, the bony scutes being whitish 

 in color. 



Eadial formula: D. xv+18+1+1; A. 17 + 1+1; P.15; V. I, 5; C.9 + 8; B. vn. 



This form, first described from the Mediterranean, occurs about Sicily ; here it is so rare 

 at the present time that it does not appear to have a common name among the fishermen, 

 though Canestrini says that its flesh is delicious. Bonaparte refers to it as Rovetto, and 

 the fishermen of Catania call it Pesci Ruvetto. Dr. Anastasio Cocco first described it from 

 Messina. Giglioli has observed it at Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Malta, and Spalato (Dalma- 

 tia) and at Mce. It was subsequently found by Lowe at Madeira, and by Webb and Ber- 



