74 NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



preparation ; the myotomes are distinct, numerous, and narrow antero- 

 posteriorly. There are simple, slender, permanent fin rays in the 

 longitudinal fin ; I counted 480 of these, but at the anterior extremities 

 of the fin they were too indistinct to be counted accurately. The end 

 of the tail has the same shape as in the adult conger, the fin passing 

 continuously round it, and the rays being arranged symmetrically and 

 somewhat more elongated than in the dorsal and ventral parts of the 

 fin. The pectoral fin is o mm. long. 



There is a single linear series of black dots along the middle of each 

 side, each dot being a single stellate chromatophore. There are a few 

 additional chromatophores below the principal series, and also a row 

 alonfj each side of the middle ventral line of the abdomen. At the 

 base of the longitudinal fin, there is a series of chromatophores on each 

 side, one to each fin-ray, continued round the end of the tail to a point 

 about I in. from the apex of the tail dorsally, but there are none on the 

 rest of the dorsal edge of the body. 



In most respects, as may be seen on comparing the above description 

 with Couch's figure, our specimen agrees well with the latter. The 

 characters of the head are not, however, well brought out in that figure. 

 Judging from our specimen, the eyes are too small, and the character 

 of the mouth and jaws is not shown ; the whole head is also too 

 small. In Couch's figure, too, the body increases more in breadth 

 towards the middle region and in the posterior half than in our 

 specimen, in which the dorso-ventral breadth remains almost uniform 

 in the middle two-thirds of the body, decreasing anteriorly and pos- 

 teriorly. 



Further anatomical examination must be deferred to some other 

 opportunity. I will only add here that the character of the larva 

 suggests to myself the idea that it corresponds to special conditions of 

 life, as is the case in other larvie, and that these special conditions are 

 not of the pelagic kind. The head is, to all intents and purposes, the 

 head of a conger, and the like may be said of the longitudinal fin, with 

 the reservation mentioned above. The body is compressed, colourless, 

 transparent, and boneless, and these qualities would, I think, be 

 fostered, if not produced, by the habit of living under stones and 

 in narrow crevices, with comparatively little exertion of the trunk 

 musculature. 



J. T. CuXiN INGHAM. 



