1. cHOKisocnisMrs. 491 



coi'acoid does not extend to the upper margin of the pectoral. 

 Ited. 



a. Adult. Cape of Good Hope. Purchased of Mr. Frank. 



b. Half-grown. Table Bay. Presented by J. L. Statham, Esq. 



c. Ten inches long. 



d-e. Adult and half-grown : stuffed. Cape Seas. 



/. Adult male : skeleton. 



g. Preparation of the internal parts. 



The head and the anterior part of the body are very broad and 

 moderately depressed ; the skin is tough, naked and smooth. The 

 head is not quite so broad as long, with the lateral profiles con- 

 vergent towards the snout, which is obtuse. The nape of the neck 

 is slightly convex, the upper siu-face of the head quite flat, its 

 profile gently sloping downwards to the snout in a straight line. 

 The greatest width of the interorbital space is not quite one-half of 

 that of the head, or twice the horizontal diameter of the eye. The 

 cleft of the mouth is horizontal, curved, extending to the vertical 

 from the anterior margin of the eye. The intermaxillary is shghtly 

 protractile, and armed with an outer series of six conical teeth on 

 each side, the inner of which is very strong and cui-ved ; the others 

 gradually diminish in size, and the hindmost is very small. There 

 is a triangular patch of short cardiform teeth behind the series de- 

 scribed, and, again, a single tooth in the middle of this patch is some- 

 what larger than the rest. There is a velum across the toothless 

 palate. The lower jaw is of moderate length, with a broad band of 

 short cardiform teeth and with an outer series of larger ones ; those 

 standing in front, ten in number, are much larger than the lateral 

 ones, although much smaller than those in the upper jaw. The hps 

 are thick, and the lower is provided with short fringes on its middle. 

 Tlie eye is situated immediately below the upper profile of the head ; 

 it is of moderate size, its horizontal diameter being one-sixth of the 

 length of the head, and two-thirds of the extent of the snout. Two 

 nostrils, close together, opposite to the upper angle of the orbit ; 

 their margins are slightly raised. The lower angle of the opercular 

 apparatus terminates posteriorly in an acute point, enveloped in skin 

 and directed backwards. The gill-openings are rather narrow, the 

 giU-mcmbranes being united Avith the isthmus. There are three 

 gills and a half ; the pseudobranchiae are formed by a series of short 

 lamellfe. 



The distance of the origin of the dorsal fin from the caudal is con- 

 tained twice and a half in its distance fi'om the snout ; the fii'st ray 

 is much shorter than the others, and apparently without joints. 

 Caudal subtruncated, of moderate length. The origin of the anal 

 falls vertically below the middle of the dorsal ; it terminates nearly 

 opposite the extremity of the latter fin. The pectoral is short and 

 broad, with the posterior margin rounded and with the base smooth ; 

 it is slightly connected with the ventral tnferiorly. 



The structure of the arUiesive apparatus is the same as in Sicyases 



