VVaite. — Notes on New Zealand Fishes. 201 



direct to Wellington. Mr. Hamilton was fortunate in being able to secure 

 a specimen for me, which confirmed my supposition, and it is this larger 

 specimen which forms the basis of the subjoined description. 



T understand that the occurrence of the fishes at the Chatham Islands 

 was of short duration only, and that, though they were quite plentiful at 

 the period of their appearance, they are not now to be obtained. 



During a subsequent visit to Sydney I was permitted to re-examine 

 the specimen of Eurmnetopos johnstonii, and compared with it a cast 

 of the smaller of our two examples. I found them to be specifically 

 identical. 



The Tasmanian specimen exhibits the following characters :■ — 



B. VII; D. VIII, I, 20; A. Ill, 15. 



The length of the head equals the depth of the body, and the pectoral 

 is as long as the head. 



The radial formula, as given by Morton* in his original description, 

 appears to have been slightly mutilated by the printer, producing a 

 very misleading result, which in all probability accounts for the non- 

 recognition of the affinities of the species for such a long period. The 

 figures D, 9 1-9, were intended for D. 9, 19, or. as now more usually 

 written, D. VIII, I, 19. The anal formula is III, 13. 



The following is a description of the Chatham Island specimen : 

 B. VII ; D. VIII, I, 20 ; A. Ill, 15 ; V. I, 5 ; P. 20 ; C. 24 + 6. 

 L. lat. 84 ; L. tr. 18 + 34. Vert. 10 + 12 = 22. 



Length of head, 3-0 ; height of body.. 2-7 ; and length of caudal, 5-5 

 in the length ; diameter of eye, 5-2 ; interorbital space, 2-7 ; and length 

 of snout, 4-0 in the head. 



Head rounded, compressed, naked and porous above, tumid over the 

 nostrils ; the latter are close together, the anterior being circular, while 

 the posterior one is an oblique slit lying midway between the end of the 

 snout and the eye ; snout truncate ; the interorbital is broad and convex ; 

 the eye is relatively low in the head and is somewhat overhung by an obtuse 

 ridge. The cleft of the mouth is horizontal, and the maxilla, which has 

 a supplemental bone, extends to below the second third of the orbit ; its 

 distal portion is rounded and its width nearly half the diameter of the eye. 

 The opercular bones are thin and entire, and the angle of the preopercle is 

 greatly, though roundly, produced. Gill-membranes united far forward, 

 not attached to the isthmus ; gill-rakers long, 21 in number on the first 

 arch, of which 16 are on the lower limb ; pseudobranchiae present, but 

 ill-developed. 



Teeth. — The teeth are confined to the jaws, the rest of the mouth being 

 edentulous ; they are small, set close together, and form a single series 

 along the whole margins of both jaws. 



Fins. — The dorsal fin commences over the edge of the operculum; the 

 fourth and fifth spines are the longest, three-fourths the diameter of the 

 eye ; the last spine is continuous with the rays, the anterior of which is the 

 longest and twice the diameter of the eye. The anal commences beneath 

 the eighth dorsal ray, and is similar in character to the dorsal, terminating 

 more posteriorly, however. The pectoral is falcate, and its seventh ray is 

 as long as the head. The ventral spine is long and slender, its length one- 

 half more than the diameter of the eye ; the length of the first ray is twice 

 the orbital diameter ; the fin lies below the pectoral. Caudal emarginate ; 



* Morton, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm.. 1888, p. 76, with plate. 



* 



