CORYPH.'ENA EQUISETIS. 75 



dusky iridescent greenish spots, the size of peas, on the ridge of the bach, 

 on each side, at the base of the dorsal fin, proceeding some way forwards 

 from its end ; but still no yellow wash : and the black specks upon the 

 sides were so few and rare, if not sometimes entirely wanting, that they 

 might easily be overlooked. Others appeared quite yellow in the water, 

 which the fishermen attributed to their eagerness to seize the bait : and 

 many were more or less washed with yellow at their capture on the sides 

 and flanks, which proved, however, very evanescent, disappearing almost 

 wholly after death. Some few had, besides the scattered black specks, a 

 few bright evanescent azure spots, or gutta, about the cheeks and breast, 

 and the dorsal fin paler or more azure than usual. These various examples 

 were, for the most part, twenty or twenty-one inches long, proving on dis- 

 section both male and female fishes ; some of the latter being in roe. 



I cannot feel entirely assured of the identity of this Madeiran Cory- 

 j)h(jena with the C. equisetis of MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes ; which, 

 besides being a somewhat larger fish (twenty-five to thirty inches long), 

 is said to have the head higher than long, the dorsal fin high in front (the 

 height of its anterior rays being half-way between one fourth and one fifth 

 of the length of its own base), and lowest at, instead of before, its last ray, 

 with the profile rising vertically at its origin for about one third of its 

 length ; though in their figure it is represented rising at an angle of little 

 more than 45*^. I am also much inclined to believe that their C. Lessonii 

 (Hist. IX. 307), briefly indicated from a drawing made by M. Lesson, 

 owes its origin to an observation of a fresh captured individual, such as 

 those described first in the preceding paragraph, of the Madeiran fish : 

 for which, should it eventually prove distinct from both these Cuvieran 

 species, I would propose the name of Cor. arenulala. 



The uniformity of size in this fish is remarkable. I have never yet 

 seen one below sixteen or above twenty- four inches in length, and only 

 one or two which had attained the latter size. The individual figured in 

 the accompanying plate measured twenty-one inches and three quarters, 

 which is about the average size, and had fifty- three rays in the dorsal fin. 

 In fifteen examples, including this, 



3 had 53 



4 — 54 

 4 — 55 

 3 — 56 



and 1 — 58 rays in the dorsal fin. 



