PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 421 



First ray of pectoral very strong and prolonged to the extremity ; 8 

 last short, forming the subbrachial dilation. 



Ventral appears at first sight a single ray, but dissection shows 5, the 

 3 first anchylosed. They are received in a furrow, which extends to 

 tke anus. 



Caudal stiff; bifurcation making angle of 72° from middle of the two 

 caudal crests to the point of the lobes, and, neglecting points, 80°. 



Origin of first dorsal above preopercle, its height surpassing by one- 

 sixth the height of the body beneath it. 



Pectoral one eighth length of body from i)oint of lower jaw. 



First anal lower than dorsal. 



The two others are small and opposite. The second dorsal a little 

 farther back, a little higher, and a little more "echaucree". 



Color. — Pronounced deep blue above, a little lighter on the flanks, 

 passing into white below. Fins intense blue; second anal and outside 

 of pectoral lighter. First dorsal with rounded spots, more intense, of 

 same color. Iris clear blue ; cornea blackish. 



Four gills of double structure and an accessory, reticulated as in 

 Xiphias. 



Pylorus attached high up and has great longitudinal folds ; also the 

 duodenum, which is swollen and receives, by two openings, the secre- 

 tions of the compact and glandulous mass which covers it. 



Intestine slender, with two short convolutions, embracing in its last 

 the spleen. 



Swim-bladder cellulous, showing great puffs, which extend far behind 

 the anus. 



A second sijecimen, the measurements of which are given below (B), 

 suggested the following notes : 



Top of head and body, upper lobe of caudal fin, and caudal cartilage' 

 bluish black. Belly and throat white. Cheeks and opercular blackish, 

 covered with a pearly sheen. The black hue of the back shades into 

 the white of the belly through an insensible gradation of lines, the 

 most prominent of which are rich purplish brown and light smoky gray. 

 The belly and the sides are pearly up to the lateral line. The boundary 

 between the colors of the back and the belly is indicated by an indis- 

 tinct line, which may be traced from the base of the rostmm over tlie 

 top of the orbit and the operculum, then descending across the lateral 

 line at a point above the middle of the pectoral fin ; it then rises in the 

 arc of a circle above the lateral line, which it meets again at the tail, tlie 

 distance between them being the greatest over the anal fin. The lower 

 lobe of the caudal is blackish, with a pearly sheen. The ventrals and 

 second dorsal fins are blue-black. The anterior rays of the first dorsal 

 are also blue-black, the membrane being light bluish purple, irregu- 

 larly spotted with circular dots from one-quarter to one-half an inch in 

 diameter. The first anal is deep bluish purple at its extremity, but on 

 its basal half bright i^early Avhite. The inner surface of the pectoral is 



