11 



DIMENSIONS. 



LeiigtL from end of snout to tip of caudal S^S inches. 



„ „ base of ditto 425 „ 



„ of head to edge of operculum 1'50 „ 



I, „ gill-opening 1'20 „ 



firet dorsal 1-25 „ 



Long diaractov of orbit 0-40 „ 



Breadth of head at gill-cover 0!)0 „ 



Height of body at nape 0-55 „ 



Height at middle of second dorsal 055 „ 



Breadth of body there 075 „ 



Geuus Haupagifer. Richardson. 



Ch. Gen. Caput horizonlale, supra planum, triangu- 



lare. 

 Corpus in caudam maxime compressam scnsim e hiimero 



attenuatiim. 

 Squamas iiiilla. Linea lateralis antlce trans niicham cvm 



pari suo conjugata ram ill urn que ad orlilam utramque 



emUtens in summo dorso cursutn tenens et ad medium 



basis pinna- dorsi secundce dcsinens. 

 Os parvinn ierminale. Dentes mandibularum minuii, 



subulati, suljincurii,stipati. Palatum lingitaque laves. 

 Oculi viodici, laterales. Ossa siiborbitalia. Preoperculum 



inerme, ellipticum. Interopevculum gracile, spatula- 



forme, preupervnlo occidtum. Operculum spinani ha- 



mifcram sursiim extrudens. Suboperculum spinam 



rectam aque insignem eviHiens. 

 Apertura branchiarum satis magna nee tamen sub guld 



extensa. Membrana branchiostega radiis sex sustentata. 

 Pinnae dorsalis ducB, quarum prior radiis paucis Jiexi- 



bilibus sustentata. Pinnae ventrales Eleotridum. 

 Vesica pneumatica nulla. Caeca pylorica tria. 

 Obs. Genus inter CalUonymum et Platypterum collo- 



candum. 



Harpagifer bispinis. Richardson. 



Species unica adhuc cognita. 



Radii:— B. 6; D. 81—24; A. 17; C. 11|; P. ; \.\\b. 



Batrachus bispinis. Bl. Schn. 45. 



Callionyvius bispinis. I. R. Forster. M.S. IV. 45. 



Plate VII., figs. 1, 2, 3, natural size. 



This small fish abounds among the kelp, on the shores 

 of Cape Horn. Many specimens were taken, but they 

 are all injured by deterioration of the spirit into which 

 they were put, so that the true distribution of the dark bars 

 or spots cannot be determined, and some uncertainty exists 

 with respect to the exact shape of the first dorsal, though 

 there is none as to the number of the rays. It seems to 

 be, unquestionablj', the fish described by Forster, in the 

 notes quoted above. The description, the size of the spe- 

 cimens, and the locality, correspond. Forster notes the 

 colour of his specimens as being blackish-brown above, 

 with an intermixture of orange-red on the head ; the 

 second dorsal, pectorals and caudal, as being varied with 

 orange-red and brown, and the under surface of the body 

 as pale orange, the anal having a deeper tint of the same. 

 He enumerates also a ray less in the second dorsal, and 



one more in the anal, than the individual we liave described 

 below possesses, but a similar variation exists in Sir James 

 Ross's specimens. The course of the lateral line corre- 

 sponds with Forster's account of it ; but the line of jjores 

 on the middle of the sides could be traced only at the 

 base of the caudal fin, owing, most probably, to the skin 

 being softened and worn. 



The height and breadth of the fi.sh is greatest at the 

 gills, the head being a short pyramid, and the body a 

 greatly elongated one, with the plane connecting the tips 

 of the opercular and subopercular spines for a common 

 base. The top of the head behind the eyes is flat, and 

 slightly concave, without ridges. The eyes are placed 

 high up, and the snout anterior to them is short and trian- 

 gular. The length of the head is contained 3j times in 

 the whole length of the fish, and its breadth at the hind 

 head, when the gill-covers are open, is equal to its length. 

 Before the eyes the profile descends obliquely to the tip 

 of the snout. The under surface of the head and breast 

 is flat, and the ventral line ascends slightly from the ven- 

 trals to the tail, in correspondence with the inclination of 

 the back. The height of the tail, at the base of the caudal 

 fin, is equal to a third of the height of the nape. The eye 

 is 1 diameter of the orbit from the tip of the snout, and 

 1^ from the gill-opeuing, Sg^ diameters being equal to the 

 length of the head. 



The mouth is small, horizontal, and terminal, the lower 

 jaw being just perceptibly longer than the upper one. 

 The jaws are very little protractile. The very short teeth 

 are subulate, slightly curved, and crowded into a small 

 tuft at the symphyses above and below, but reduced almost 

 to a single row on the limbs of the jaws. There is a nar- 

 row velum behind them on both jaws. The tongue and 

 roof of the mouth are smooth. The maxillary increases 

 gradually in breadth to its lower end, which is truncated, 

 and moves over the limb of the lower jaw. A very short 

 part only of its slender upper end glides under the edge 

 of the preorbitar. 



Preorbitar narrow, not toothed, but having a cavernous 

 or cellular structure, which is concealed by the integument. 

 The rest of the suborbitar chain is reduced to a row of 

 little eminences, with porous mouths, closely skirting the 

 eye beneath and behind, and leaving a large, fleshy, convex 

 cheek. The preoperculum has an obtuse semi-elliptical 

 curve, with a rather narrow disk, equally wide throughout, 

 and without any projection at the curve. In drying, the 

 integument permits cavities on the disk to appear. The 

 interoperculum is slender and cylindiical, and is concealed 

 under the edge of the preoperculum. The end which joins 

 the suboperculum is dilated, so as to give the form of a 

 spatula to the entire bone. The operculum ends in a strong 

 spine, which stands upwards, and a little outwards, and 

 gives off' from its inner side, near its tip, a hooked antler- 

 like branchlet. The suboperculum ends in a straight hori- 

 zontal spine, having a slight notch at its tip. When the 

 gill-plates are raised, the spines project laterally, and a 

 narrow border of membrane runs between them, to the 

 extreme edge of which the branchiostegous membrane is 

 united at an acute angle, and several of the rays show 

 between the opercular and subopercular spines. The sub- 

 operculum also sends off vertically a filiform, flexible, 



c 2 



