408 The Rev. R. T. Lowe on the Fishes of Madeira. 



eye, and shorter thickset figure. The pectoral fins vary from one- 

 fourth to nearly one-sixth part of the whole length, their points 

 reaching to the end of the second dorsal fin. In T. vulgaris, L. the 

 tips of the pectoral fins reach only to the end of the first, or to the 

 beginning of the second dorsal fin. 



T, obesus is in greatest abundance earlier in the summer than T. 

 Alhacora. In size it ranges next below T. vulgaris, L., not however 

 attaining above half the extreme size of that species ; nor much ex- 

 ceeding the full size of T. Albacora, 



Thynnus Alalonga, Cuv. and Val. — " Atum Avoador." — Cuv. and 

 Val. Hist. VIII. 120. t. 215. 



Orcynus Alalonga, Risso, iii. 419. Vulgaris. 



No difficulty can occur in the recognition of this species, from the 

 great length of the pectoral fins, which are one-third part of the 

 whole length, and reach to the end of the anal fin, or to the first 

 spurious finlet behind it. Its proper season is said to be January. 



Thyrsites acantho derma. — '* Fscolar." 



Aplurus simplex, Syn. Mad. Fish. 180. 



This is the fish called in my Synopsis Aplurus simplex. It is a 

 true Thyrsites, Cuv. in every respect, except the structure of the skin, 

 a peculiarity which seems insufficient, in the absence of all other 

 characters, to warrant its generic separation.* 



Prometheus atlanticus, nob. — " Coelho." 



This also is again here mentioned only for the sake of remarking, 

 that further observations have gone far to prove the Maderan fish to 

 be specifically distinct from both Gempylus Prometheus and G. Solandri 

 of MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes, whose synonyms should therefore 

 be expunged. 



Gen. Aphanopus, nob. 



Gen. Char. — Form as in Lepidopus, elongate, much compressed, 

 like a sword-blade, naked, but with a short keel on each side, towards 

 the tail. 



Muzzle and teeth as in Lepidopus (Gouan), but the palatines un- 

 armed. 



Dorsal fins two, nearly equal. Anal fin as in Lepidopus, but with 

 a strong sharp spine instead of a scale before it, a little behind the 

 vent. No trace or rudiment of ventral fins. 



Aphanopus carbo. — " Espada preta." Rariss. 



Of this most curious new genus a single individual only has yet 



* By an error in the punctuation, some descriptive observations at the 

 bottom of page 180 of my synopsis (Trans. Zool. Soc, vol. ii.), relating to 

 this fish, have been converted into a specific character. 



