164 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



condition and the appended notes were made while the taxidermists 

 were engaged upon their work, no time having to be lost in its 

 preparation. It proved to be a female, as with every other 

 specimen of Eegalecus sexually examined. 



Regalecus glesne, Ascanius. 

 D. UO + 1 V. 1. P. 12. 



Height of body 1546, length of head 20'1 in the total length- 

 Eye 5 and maxilla 28-5 in the length of the head. Teeth absent- 

 The head and body together are much shorter than the tail, being 

 contained therein 3-5 times. The gill rakers of the first arch are 

 very long, the longest measuring 28 mm.; they are slender and 

 tapering and are furnished with short stiff hairs on their inner 

 margins ; there are five rakers on the hinder and thirty-four on 

 the lower limb — ^there is also a very small raker between each of 

 the larger ones, it may easily be overlooked. A second set occurs 

 on the inner side of the arch, these rakers are comparatively 

 small and are arranged in three series, the largest not more than 

 6 mm. in length. The first series consists of a rather broad 

 triangular plate, surmounted by a thickened head which bears a 

 number of hairs. The second series is alternate with the first one, 

 and the rakers are similar, but only half their size. The third 

 series is formed of rakers less than half the size of those of the 

 second series, they occur between each of the others and are there- 

 fore twice as numerous, these are comparable with the small 

 alternate rakers described on the outer set of the first arch. 

 The rakers on the other arches (there are four and a half in 

 all) are very small and are similar to the inner set of the first 

 arch. The tail is possibly incomplete, but I do not think very 

 much has been lost, the membrane extends to its tip. Of the 

 cephalic rays the first is tlie only one now perfect, it is very stout 

 basally but tapers to a thread, it measures two and a quarter 

 times the length of the head; the four following are slender, close 

 together but are broken oft' at about one-third the length of the 

 first one, the others are broken short, all were connected by 

 membrane. The dorsal tin is tolerably perfect but broken away 

 at intervals, its height is one-half more than the diameter of the 

 eye. The only pectoral fin remaining is broken, but it has not 

 the vertical aspect ascribed to some forms, and exhibits the bases 

 of twelve rays. One of the ventral filaments is complete and 

 extends nearly to the vent, it terminates in a fteshy tag. The 

 lateral line arises above the operculum, passes obliquely down- 

 wards and runs along the lower half of the body at about one-fourth 

 its height from the ventral surface. 



The skin is very thin and is marked by five longitudinal rows 

 of tubercles, where these tubercles exist the skin is attached to 



