DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTKIBUTION. 481 



Eeijuh'cus rcm'qtrs, Bri'NNICII, loc. cit., 1788, 4U, jil. B, figs. 4-5. 



Oi/miictnis remipis, .SciineidkI!, loc. cit., 482, }>}. SH. 



Gymiictriis Grillii, LiNUitoru, K. Vet. .\k. Hand., 179S, 2ill, jil. viii. — .Schnkidk.r, op. cit., 482. 



Ileyahciis (h-illii, Gi NTIIKR, op. cil., oil. 



Cipohigladiiix, W.\LliAU.M, Artedi, HI, 617. 



Gymnelnm ijladius, CuviEU and Valencienni;s, Hist. Nat. Poiss., x, 32.5, ]d. tcxtviii. 



EeyaUvus ghidias, Gunthei!, Cat. Fisb. Brit. Mus., in, 308.— Canestkim, Fauna Italica, Pi-sci, 195.— Morf.ai; 



loo. cit., 555. — GiGLiOLi, Elenco, 32. 

 Ci/miietnis Hawkcnii, Blocii, Ichtli., xii, 1792, 88, 425.— LACKPicDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iii, 380.— Shaw, Zool., 



n-, 197. 

 (liimnclnis IJuwldnnii, Sciineidkr, Blorli Syst. Ichth., 1801, 197. 

 tliimiietriis .Iscaiiii, SiiAW, Ziini., IV, 197. 

 (iijmnclnis tonijcrudiiitiix, K'lsso, Hist. Nat., HI, 1820, 29t>. 

 Gijmnctrus tclum, (.'uviKR aud Valenciennes, op. cil., x, 361, pi. cc.xcix. 

 Jieijalcciis tetuin, Moreau, Hist. Nat. Poiss. Franre, 5.57. — (Iiglioli, loc. cit. 

 Reyalccus Baiilcsii, CuviKii and Valenciennes, op. cil., x, 365. — Day, Fishes Great Britain and Ireland, i, 



220, pi. Lxiv. 

 Gymiiclnis Hiiuhsii, Tristram, I'roc Zool. Soc, 1866, 147. 



Gymnetrus capcnuis, Cuvikk and Valenciennes, op. cit., x, 376. — Ginther, loc cil. — Layard, Proc. Zool. 

 Soc, 1868, 319 (figure). 



Body very elongate, its lieight from oiie-twelftli to oue twenty-foiutli of its leiiiitli. 

 Length of tlie liead confained from 10 to 20 times in the h'ligth of the Iwdy. Snoiifc 

 short, truncated; eleft of mouth vertical, the upper jaw very protractile. Jaws minute 

 or absent. Diameter of eye 4 to 6 times in length of head. The anterior rays, 8 to 15 

 in number, turm an elevated crest, sometimes in two jiarts, the posterior rays of this cre.st 

 Avith membranous tips. Each ventral ray with a lobate membranous tip. Skin with 

 numerous bony tubercles. Lateral line placed low. 



Radial formula,: 1). 275-400; P. 11-14; V. I. 



Color, silver gray, with a iew spots or streaks of darker hue, most numerous anteriorly. 



It is not certain that there is more than one species of Re(/tileci(.'<, although, as the syn- 

 onymy which precedes clearly shows, various names have been suggested in connection 

 with the comparatively few individuals which, during tlie past century and a half, have 

 been captured in the North Atlantic. There appears to be considerable possibility of indi- 

 vidual variation in proportions of height to lengtli, and in the number of rays in the dorsal 

 tin, but it is a fai-t well known to iclithyologists tliat constancy is not to be exi)ecteil in 

 forms in which tlie number of vertebrte and flu rays has been extended iar beyond the nor- 

 mal average. 



It should also be said that most of the individuals studied have been in very imperfect 

 condition, and also that in many instances the observations have been made by untrained 

 observers, so that it seems doubtful whether there is really more than one species to be 

 assigned to the Atlantic fauna. At all events, Giinther, Oollett, Liitken, and Day agree in 

 the idea that it is impossible to discriminate between the forms already described, and we 

 follow their lead in considering them all, for the present, as a single species. It is not 

 impossible, of course, that, should better material be obtained, it may be desirable to sepa- 

 rate the group into more snlis|iecies, but until this shall be done discrimination leatls to 

 confusion rather than to deliuite knowledge. 



The iishes belonging to the genus Bcgalecus are very remarkable, not only on account 

 of their peculiar appearance and structure, but because of their enormous size. They 

 have been known to attain the length of 20 feet, and it is more than i)robable that they 

 grow very much longer, and that many of the creatures popularly identified with the "sea 

 serpent" are only large individuals of this type. Indeed, it seems quite safe to assign to 

 this group all the so-called "sea serpents'' which have been described as swimming rapidly 

 near the surface, with a horse-like head raised above the water, surmounted by a mane-like 

 crest of red or brown. 



The iudividiml which came ashore at Hungry Bay in Bermuda in ISCO, and which was 

 about 17 feet long, was described by the people who saw it before its capture as being 

 very much larger, aud as having a head of an immense horse with a flaming red mane. Giiu- 

 19808— No. 2 31 



