2*2 Fourth occurrence of the Argentine 



Art. IV. Notice of the fourth occurrence of the Argentine, (? Scope- 

 lus Humboldtii, Yarr.) upon the British Shores. By Dr. W. B. 

 Clarke. With additional Remarks, by W. Yarrell, Esq. 



I beg leave to transmit, for insertion in the Magazine of Na- 

 tural History, a sketch and description of a species of Argen- 

 tine, which I obtained upon the shore of the Firth of Forth, 

 at Portobello, in April, 1833. 



I discovered this highly elegant little fish, whilst looking 

 amongst the various bodies cast up by the water, and observed 

 it lying entangled in some sea-weed, which had been accu- 

 mulated in masses, and left by the retiring tide. The fish 

 was dead, but from its freshness could not long have been so. 



In the Animal Kingdom of Cuvier, translated by Griffith, 

 we have the following description of the genus. 

 Scqpelus, Cuv. Serpes of Risso. 



"Mouth and gills extremely cleft ; the two jaws furnished 

 with very small teeth : the edge of the upper entirely formed 

 by the intermaxillaries : the tongue and palate smooth.- — 

 Their muzzle is very short and obtuse : there are nine or ten 

 rays to the gills ; and besides the usual dorsal, which corre- 

 sponds to the interval of the ventrals, and the anal, there is 

 another very small one behind, in which the vestiges of rays 

 are perceptible." 



" These fishes are caught in the Mediterranean, intermin- 

 gled with the anchovies, and they are there called Melettes, 

 as are other small fishes. One of them, the Serpes Hum- 

 boldtii, Risso, pi. x. fig. 38, is remarkable for the brilliancy 

 of the silvery points which are distributed along the body and 

 tail." 



Then in a note we have, " I believe this fish to be the pre- 

 tended Argentina Sphyrama of Pennant's Brit. Zool. No. 156; 

 therefore it should be found in our part of the Atlantic." 



Besides the Scopelus Humboldtii, which probably is iden- 

 tical with the species under description, there are two other 

 species, Viz. Serpes (Scopelus) crocodile, Risso, p. 357 ; and 

 Serpes (Scopelus) balbo, Id. Ac. des Sc. de Turin, tome xxv. 

 pi. x. fig. 3. 



Mr. Yarrell, in his invaluable wrok upon the British Fishes, 

 states, " Pennant, and the Rev. Mr. Low, of Orkney, appear 



