DIscrssioN of SPKelKs AND THEIB DISTRIBUTION. 



197 



thelot at the Canaries, tt occurs rarely on the Portuguese coast, where ft is failed Esco 



lur, and doubtless also in Spanish waters. About the Canaries the fish is known as the 

 Escolar, a name which is said to be applied to members of the family Qadidas by Spanish 

 fishermen. The Escolar occurs in great schools about the Canaries in winter, and the 

 fishermen capture it with hook and line at a depth of a hundred fathoms or less, and its 

 flesh is highly prized. Cantraiue Btates thai it is taken at considerable depths about, 

 Malta. Lowe found it at Madeira at depths as great as 300 and 400 fathoms. It was found 

 by Poey in the waters of Cuba before 1854. Poey tells us that it is rarely seen in the 

 markets because of the difficulty attending its capture, for it can lie caught only at a depth 

 of 300 fathoms on dark nights in September and the early part of October. Poey further 

 states that when one of these fishes is brought to the surface it appears to be surrounded 

 by a globe of phosphorescent light. The Cuban fishermen go "a scholaring" (it escolarear) 

 after the fishing for the Spearfish [Tetrapturus) has ceased, and before that for the lied 

 Snapper (Lutjanus aya) begins. According to Canestrini it grows to the weight of loo 

 pounds in Sicilian waters. 



In 1S91 a specimen (No. 43740, U. S. N. M.) 40 inches in length, was taken on Georges 

 Bank, in about 41° 40' N. lat., 67° 44' W. long., in September. It was obtained by the 

 schooner M. A. Boston, Capt. Thomas Thompson, of Gloucester, and was sent by the 

 captors to the C S. Fish Commission. Another individual, 6 feet long, was taken from 

 the same region a few weeks later. This also was sent to the Fish Commission, and was 

 transferred to the National Museum, where its skeleton is preserved. 



NESIARCHUS, Johnson. 



Nesiarchus, Joiin'sox, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1862, 173. 



Body elongate, compressed, covered with small scales. Eye of moderate size. Several 

 strong fangs in the jaws: palate toothless. First dorsal fin with about HO spines, separate 

 from the second. No detached unlets. Ventrals small, thoracic. Caudal fin present. A 

 dagger-shaped spine behind the vent. 



NESIARCHUS NASPTUS. 



The only species is ST. nasutus, obtained at Madeira in 1862, by Johnson, and which has 

 since been captured in dec)) water off Portugal. 



NESIARCHUS NASUTUS, Johnson. 



Nesiarchus nasutus, Johnson, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1862, 173, pi. xxn. — GOnthek, Challenger Report, 



xxii. ISS7. 37. 

 Prometheus paradoxus, Cacello, .lorn. Sc. Acad. Lisbon, i, p. 260, pi. iv. fig. 5; ii, p. L54; <:<t. Peix., 



Portugal, 1880, 16.— Stkindachner, Sitz. Ak. Ui<>. Wien, L887, in::. 



Body very elongate, covered with small, deciduous, cycloid scales. conspicuously marked 

 with concentric stria-: its height contained 13 times in its length. Bead compressed, its 

 flat cheeks covered with scales. A broad groove between the eyes and on the snout. 



