60 



ninety-two scales in a longitudinal row between the gill- 

 opening and caudal fin, and eighteen or twenty rows in the 

 vertical height under the dorsal. The lateral line is com- 

 posed of a series of simple tubes, and with a very slight de- 

 curvature at its commencement runs nearly straight a little 

 above the middle of the height of the body. The ventrals 

 are attached under the beginning of the dorsal, and in the 

 middle of the length between the tip of the snout and ex- 

 tremities of the central caudal rays. The first five dorsal 

 rays are closely incumbent and graduated, and the upper 

 joints of the third, fourth, and fifth are oblique. The first 

 three anal rays are also short and closely incumbent, and 

 two or three of the following ones have oblique joints. This 

 peculiar obliquity of the joints is well seen in the longest 

 upper and under caudal rays, which are much compressed 

 and broader than the others. Several of the adjacent rays 

 are compressed, with oblique joints in a less degree, and 

 the first of the incumbent basal ones both above and below 

 is thin, white and bony, with a lanceolate outline and very 

 acute tip. It is not jointed, but several which immediately 

 follow it, though less broad and shewing vestiges of joints, 

 have similarly acute tips. 



In Mr. Reeves's drawing the scales of the body are re- 

 presented as brightly silvery, with leek-green shadings from 

 their bases above the lateral line, and pale pearl-gray be- 

 low. The membranes of the dorsal and caudal are moun- 

 tain-green with darker rays, a bar along the base of 

 the caudal being also darker ; and the central part of the 

 caudal is light bluish gray, without any indication of the 

 black stripe exhibited in Bloch's figure of Elops saurus, 

 493. The upper parts of the head are sap-green mixed 

 with oil-green ; the lower parts silvery. The pectoral is 

 gamboge-yellow with a blackish tip ; the ventrals and anal 

 dull saffron-yellow in front and colourless posteriorly. 



Mr. Reeves figures another Chinese Elops [purpurascens), 

 which is briefly noticed in the ' Report on the Ichthy- 

 ology of the Seas of China and Japan,' quoted above. 



Hab. Seas of China and India. The Red Sea. 



Gasterochisma melampus. Richardson. 



Gasterochisma melampiis, Richardson, Anu. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. 

 XV. p. 346. May, 1845. 



Radii:— B. 5; D. 17|— 1|10 et VI ; A. 2|10etVI; 

 C. 174^; P. 20; V. 1|5. 



Plate XXXVIT., figs. 1—3, natural size. 



This fish is most closely allied to Notneus, of which it 

 possesses many of the characters, but its larger mouth, the 

 form of the jaws approaching much more nearly to that of 

 Scomber, the great compression of the body, and above all, 

 the free pinnules of the dorsal and anal, justify its being 

 placed in a separate genus, in accordance with the manner 

 in which the Scomheridce have been hitherto subdivided. 



The profile bears considerable resemblance to that of a 

 common mackerel, and the tail at the base of the caudal is 

 very slender, but has no vestige of a keel. The length of 

 the head, which equals the height of the body, is contained 

 four times and a half in the total length, and the thickness 



of the body is less than one-third of its height, the back and 

 belly being both acute. The nape is more broadly round- 

 ed, but the top of the head is traversed by a smooth, acute, 

 mesial keel, which is continued to the tip of the narrow, 

 acute snout. The lower jaw is also acute, and the cleft of 

 the mouth is half the length of the head. The maxillary 

 reaches rather beyond the middle of the eye, and its slen- 

 der middle part only is covered by the preorbitar when the 

 mouth is closed. The jaw-teeth are finely subulate, acute, 

 slightly curved, and rather widely set in a single row. The 

 vomerine and palatine teeth are more delicate and not 

 so evenly set. 



The cheek is scaly, and there is a scaly patch on the su- 

 pra-scapulars ; but the top of the head, jaws, preorbitar, 

 disk of the preoperculum, and gill-membranes are smooth. 

 There are no scales on the gill-covers in the specimen, but 

 as the integument clothing these bones is injured, it is pos- 

 sible that they may be more or less scaly in the recent fish. 

 The lateral line is moderately arched till it comes opposite 

 to the first separate pinnule, when it takes a straight course 

 through the tail. The scales are moderately large. The 

 belly is deeply fissured to form a sheath for the reception 

 of the large ventrals, in which they can be completely con- 

 cealed. The inside of this sheath is lined with delicate 

 membrane, and the small tubular orifice of the anus is 

 situated near its posterior end. The ventral, equal in length 

 to one-third of the whole fish, is attached under the base 

 of the pectoral as in Nomeus. It is probable that their 

 last ray is attached throughout to the mesial line of the 

 sheath by a wide membrane, as in the genus just named, 

 but if so, the membrane has been torn away in our speci- 

 men. The pectorals are in proportion considerably smaller 

 than in Nomeus mauritii. The first dorsal is arched, and is 

 supported by slender, brittle rays, which are half the height 

 of the body. The membrane of the posterior part of the 

 dorsal and anal is either altogether wanting or perishes 

 early, leaving six or seven detached pinnules behind each 

 fin. There is no vestige of any separate spines before the 

 anal, and the first spine of this fin is a mere point. The 

 ventrals retain their intense black colour, but the original 

 tints of the other fins and rest of the fish cannot be traced 

 in the specimen, which has suffered froiu long maceration 

 in spirits. 



Length 8 inches. 



Hab. Port Nicholson, New Zealand. 



Ageiopus LEUCOP.ECILUS. Richardsou. 



Ch. Spec. Agr. cute Imvissimo ; corpora maculis irregu- 

 larihiis castanets cum labecuUs purpurascenti-albidis in 

 humero linedque laterali alternantibus variegato ; parte 

 spinosd pinncB dorsi nigra marginatd, parte articulatd 

 fascid nigra percursd. 



Radii:— D. 17| 13; A. 9;C. 12|; P. 8 ; V. 1|5. 



Plate XXXVII., figs. 4, 5, natural size. 



The genus Agriopus presents the peculiar character from 

 which the Joues cuirass6es of Cuvier derive their appella- 



