122 



outline undulating inegulailj'. The lines of structure cor- 

 respond with the outline, and are remote from each other, 

 being few in number. There are no diverging fan-like 

 furrows. As they are very deciduous but few remain on 

 any of the specimens, and the number of their rows cannot 

 be stated. The lateral line, which has been omitted in 

 figure 1, is straight, and rather above the mid-height. 



On opening the belly of a specimen, laid upon its back, 

 much roe became visible, and beneath it lay the remains of 

 the liver covering the upper half of the stomach. The 

 stomach, which is not black like that of Argentina sphy- 

 r(e/ia, and lias an obtuse fundus, is divided more than half- 

 way down into the a3sophageal and pyloric branches. The 

 pylorus, which is close to the diaphragm, is much con- 

 tracted, and the intestine descends from it in a straight 

 line to the anus, there being neither coeca nor convolutions. 

 No air-bladder was discovered on inspection of three or four 

 specimens, none of them in perfect condition. The abdo- 

 men and the inside of the gill-plates are lined with a bright 

 silvery membrane sprinkled with black dots, which are raised 

 above the surface as if they were formed by drops of some 

 thick pigment. A stripe along the spine, within the abdomen, 

 which appears when the intestines are removed, is honey- 

 yellow with black dots. The intestines contained frag- 

 ments of minute marine Crustacea, and there were many 

 small parasitical worms. The pectorals are attached near 

 the ventral surface, and below the level of the eye. They 

 are supported by eleven rays, of which the upper one is 

 longest. The ventrals are attached about a tenth of the 

 whole length before the middle of the fish, caudal included. 

 The fore part of the dorsal is about as much behind the 

 middle. The anal commences immediately behind the 

 anus, and under the middle of the dorsal, ending opposite 

 to the adipose fin. It is slightly excavated on its margin. 

 Its front ray, like that of the dorsal, is short, and incumbent 

 on the second one. The caudal is considerably forked, 

 and is supported by eighteen rays, which are divided into 

 two equal groups by a well-marked mesial membranous 

 line. The outer ray, above and below, is unbranched, and 

 broader than the others, which are forked. Tlie end of the 

 tail is embraced, for a little space, by thirteen short and 

 successively decreasing rays above, and as many below. 

 The rays of all the fins are jointed. 



The length of the head is comprised five times and one 

 half in the total length. The lower jaw is conspicuously 

 longer than the upper one, and, when the jaws are closed, 

 ascends considerably, with the gape of the mouth, which 

 reaches nearly to the eye, but from the great shortness of 

 the snout is small. The general a.spect of the head and 

 of the fish generally, irrespective of the backward position 

 of the dorsal, is that of a young trout. The top of the 

 head and snout are smooth and rounded, but the snout is 

 not obtuse. The eye is large, touching the profile, but 

 scarcely rising above it, one diameter and a half distant 

 from the gill-opening, and less than a diameter from the 

 end of the snout. Nostrils two contiguous round openings, 

 with raised margins, placed nearer the end of the snout 

 than to the orbit. Preorbitar and rest of suborbitar very 

 narrow. Cheek nacry, but soft, and not naked or bony as 

 in Hydrocijon. Preopercnlum with a narrow nacry disk, 



and the two limbs meeting in the rectangular corner. Gill- 

 cover shaped as in Salmo, nacry ; the suboperculum hori- 

 zontal, and not having more than the fifth of the height of 

 the operculum. Gill-opening amply cleft, the membranes 

 uniting to the narrow isthmus opposite to the hinder part 

 of the eye. Membranes nanow, supported by six flat, thin 

 rays; which become gradually narrower towards their con- 

 nection with the hyoid bone. The premaxillaries form 

 one half of the upper border of the mouth, and are armed 

 with fourteen or sixteen setaceous teeth in a single row. 

 They are moderately curved, corresponding with the arc of 

 the upper lip, and have no pedicle, but merely an increase of 

 width to their mesial halves. The maxillary is narrowly do- 

 labriform, the posterior and thicker border being straight. 

 Its wider end plays over the limb of the lower jaw, while 

 the middle part of its fore edge, for more than one-third of 

 its length, completes the upper margin of the mouth, and 

 is armed with about fifteen teeth like the premaxillary 

 ones. Mandibular teeth similar and uniserial. The vo- 

 merine teeth are rather larger, and the palatine ones slightly 

 smaller. Both sets are uniserial, but they are slightly 

 moveable, and, being inclined alternately to right and left, 

 they appear to be biserial, except in the skeleton, when 

 the palatine is seen to be a very narrow bone, and the teeth 

 strictly uniserial. The vomerine teeth, about six in num- 

 ber, are ranged transversely, close to the premaxillaries 

 and parallel to them. The entopterygoid, which forms the 

 floor of the orbit, is armed with three crowded rows of short 

 subulate teeth, the interior row projecting conspicuously 

 from the roof of the mouth. The soft parts adjoining these 

 teeth and the palatines are studded with minute papillae, 

 looking like additional rows of teeth. The tongue is 

 armed by two rows of curved teeth stronger than any of 

 the others, and the isthmus of the branchial arches is co- 

 vered with a crowd of minute ones. The upper pharyn- 

 geals are small cushions studded with microscopical teeth. 

 There are four branchial arches, furnished with two rows of 

 rakers, the anterior row of each arch being long and subu- 

 late. 



The original colours of the specimen must have been 

 considerably altered by the decadence of most of the scales. 

 In their present state the back has a honey-yellow hue, with 

 many black dots, and a broad stripe on the sides is silvery. 



Length Irom 2 to 83^ inches. 



Hab. Bay of Islands, New Zealand. 



The specimens were taken in a net. 



Gadopsis marmoratus. Richardson. 



Radii :— B. 6 ; D. 10|2.5, vel 26 ; .\. 3|19 ; P. 17 ; V. 1. 



Plate LIX., figs. 6—11. 



I have seen only a single dried skin of this fish, and 

 cannot therefore venture to otter a full description of its 

 generic peculiarities. It appears to belong to the Blenni- 

 oid family, and to be a form hitherto undescribcd. 



