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ON A TRACHYPTERUS FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 



By J. Douglas Ogilby. 



So little is known about the life history of the fishes belonging 

 to this family that any new facts, however apparently trivial in 

 themselves, which relate to their appearance and distribution 

 acquire exceptional value, and should be recorded in full; especially 

 should the changes which are now known to take place during 

 the progress of the fish towards maturity be carefully noted and 

 the results tabulated. For it is only by the collection and colla- 

 tion of these scattered references that we may in time hope to 

 gain some insight into the economy of these strange denizens of 

 the ocean depths.* It is therefore with great pleasure that I am 

 enabled to lay before you to-night a detailed description of a 

 young example which was recently washed ashore near Newcastle, 

 and fortunately came into the possession of the authorities of the 

 local Museum. For the opportunity of examining this rare fish 

 I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Alfred Finckh, of the 

 Technological Museum, who kindly placed the specimen at my 

 disposal for the purposes of the present paper. 



Before, however, proceeding to describe the Newcastle example, 

 it seems to me advisable to briefly review the meagre literature 

 of the genus, so far as it refers to those specimens which have 

 been recorded from the south-western Pacific. 



* An excellent commencement of this very necessary work has been 

 made by Emery, who, in a vahiable paper published in the " Atti Acad. 

 Lincei, Rome iii. 1879, pp. 390-395, fF. 1-6," gives details of the examination 

 of twenty-three specimens, and shows that three Mediterranean forms— 

 T. spinohv, T. tanvia, and T. iris — which had always been recognised as 

 distinct, are but successive stages in the growth of one and the same species; 

 the true name of which should be Trachypterufi trachyptera (Gmelin). 

 Unfortunately I have not been able to consult Emery's article. 



