Parker. — On a Specimen of Regalecus. 21 



gives an excellent notion of the form, colour, markings, etc., of 

 the fish, and in addition an almost perfect skeleton. 



Since the account of the Moeraki specimen was published, 

 I have been favoured by the authors, Dr. Chr. Lutken, of 

 Copenhagen, and Dr. Eobert Collett, of Christiania, with copies 

 of three important papers on northern species of Begalecus. 

 Liitken's second paper (6), which is a resume of his first (5), 

 is accompanied by a French translation, and is also translated 

 into English, in the " Annals and Magazine of Natural His- 

 tory " for 1883. Collett's paper (1) is in Norwegian; and I should 

 have been able to make out little beyond the description of the 

 plates but for the kindness of Mr. C. Theilmann, who was 

 good enough to translate both it and the necessary portions of 

 Liitken's first paper for me. 



It is perhaps not unworthy of mention that the majority of 

 specimens found in the Northern Hemisphere have been obtained 

 in winter or early spring. Out of 25 examples recorded by 

 Collett (1) as having been obtained either in Scandinavia or 

 in Great Britain during the past century, 8 were found in 

 March, 4 in February, 3 in January, and 3 in April. Of 6 New 

 Zealand specimens, of which the date of capture is recorded, 

 3 were found in winter (2 in June and 1 in July), 1 in 

 late autumn (May), and 1 in early spring (October). :;: These 

 facts are not without interest as bearing upon the case of another 

 deep-sea Teleost, the Frost-fish {Lepidojyus caudatus), which is 

 hardly ever obtained except by being found stranded on sea- 

 beaches during the winter. It is also remarkable that all 

 the Begaleci the sex of which has been ascertained have been 

 females. 



It will be convenient to discuss the present specimen under 

 the following heads : — 



(a.) Size, proportions, and number of fin-rays. 



(Ij.) Evidence of mutilation of tail. 



(c.) Colour and markings. 



(d.) Characters of the crest or nuchal fin. 



(e.) The skeleton. 



(a.) She, pen portions, and number of fin-rays. — The chief facts 

 under this head are best given in the form of a table, which will 

 serve to show at a glance the main differences between the 

 three New Zealand specimens of Begalecus which have been 



* In mentioning the recorded occurrences of Begalecus in New Zealand 

 in my former paper (7), I omitted two : A specimen 14 feet long is mentioned 

 by Mr. F. E. Clarke ("Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. xiii., p. 196) as having been 

 found near Jackson's Bay by Mr. James Teer, in February, 1874 ; and Sir 

 James Hector records the capture of a " species of Banks' Oar-fish, 

 Regalecus gladius " [sic] at Cape Farewell Sandspit (" Trans. N.Z. Inst.," 

 vol. x., p. 533). The date of capture of this last example is not given: it 

 seems to have been shortly before December, 1877. 



