32 fi 



SCAXniXAVIAX FISHES. 



and ;ilso Layakd's fiiiure of tlie Begalcnis tVoia tlie 

 Cape of Good Hope" render it probable that the high 

 crest or mane of "the great Sea-serpent'' is formed in 

 the manner shown in Valenciennes's figure of BegaJecus 

 flhuVms, and consists of two parts, the one being formed 

 1)}' the tirst tive ra^s (the first raA- l)eing the longest 

 and thickest according to Wright (1. c.) and ending in 

 a tine, tiliform tip, the other four slender and gradu- 

 ally decreasing in length). The second ])art consists of 

 from 9 to 12 rays, the tirst of M'hich is tlie longest, 

 the others gradually diminishing in length, and all of 



the total length of the body. The King of the Herrings 

 has not always been found under so favourable cir- 

 cumstances as in the above cases, where it has been 

 possible to lift tlie entire tish into a boat or, as in the 

 case of LiXDiK/rHs specimen from Hitteren, to discover it 

 soon after it has come ashore. The tish has generally 

 been found dead and in a damaged condition among 

 tlie lireakers on the l)each. From the structure of the 

 end of the tail in tlie best-preserved s))ecimens it ap- 

 pears that the tail is almost iiivariablv l)rokeii during 

 life, but heals again, leaving the surface of the fracture 



them ^vith foliate tijis or, according to Day, with the ! in a fairlv characteristic S-cui've, as has lieen the case 



membrane behind the tip of each viw elongated into a 

 filament which in shape resembles the dorsal filaments 

 of the Dorv, but is shorter than they. All the latter 

 rays are proljably united, at the base at least, to each 

 other as well as to tlie true dorsal tin. 



In the singular, long rays of the \entral tins, which 

 remind us of the juvenile stages of Trdchijptenis, the 

 foliate, membranous extension of the tip, according to 

 Naai-S(")E and Collett, is triangular and trilobate. This 

 description also agrees closely with La ya no's figure, 

 according to which, as in Valexciexnes's Bef/alecus 

 f/lacUits, there also ajjpears a triangular dermal fiap on 

 the inner side of the ray, the distance between this flap 



in the specimens of Haxcock and Ejibletox, Lixdroth 

 and others. Furthermore, as Collett has fully de- 

 monstrated, this fracture mav recur repeatedly, or, at 

 all events, a larger part than usual may be broken off, 

 in which case it is of course still more difficult to 

 arrive at the total length of the bodv''. 



The remark we have made with regard to the shape 

 of the bodv during life in the preceding genus, also 

 applies to BcgaJecus. It is undoubtedly much more 

 terete than in the specimens preserved in spirits as we 

 see them in the museums. Wright found the greatest 

 thickness of the bodv in his sjjecimeii to lie about 34'/2 

 %j of the greatest depth. According to Lixdroth the 



and the base of the ray being twice that between it and | corresponding proportion in the Hitteren specimen was 

 the tip of the latter. In spite of the variation to which j 25 %, and in the Crovie specimen, according to Kichard- 

 the length of the ventral rays is apparently subject, | son, 28 %. In the Burholni sjiccimeii I find the greatest 



their tip, to judge by Lixdroth's specimen, always 

 extends at least beyond the vent. 



The length of the pectoral fins, according to Hax- 

 cock and Embleton as well as Wright, is a third 

 greater than the diameter of the eye, but according to 

 LiN'DRiiTH, erpial to the latter and also to the thickness 

 of the head behind the eyes''. According to Haxcock 

 and Embleton these fins are colourless''. 



The average distance between the vent and the tip 

 of the snout in Atlantic specimens is rather more than 

 40 % of the length of the body, and the distance be- 

 tween the former and the middle of the hind maroin of 

 the gill-cover (behind the head) is somewhat more than 

 34 % of the length of the body; but into these measure- 

 ments there enters a factor in most cases obscure, c'tz. 



thickness of the bodv to be onh' slightly more than 

 12 % of the greatest depth. A varintion so considerable 

 — from v., to \/,^ — can be explained only b^- the 

 loose structure of the body and the different extent to 

 which the various specimens have shrunk. The dorsal 

 edge is thin and sharp, the greatest thickness being 

 situated in the lowest third of the body. 



In Norway, according to Collett, 13 specimens 

 of the King of the Herrings have lieen foiuid at differ- 

 ent spots along the entire coast line, between 1740 

 and 1883. Most of them, however, were found off' the 

 south coast, during the spring Herring-fishery. The 

 Museum of Copenhagen possesses a specimen from the 

 Faroe Islands. From Scotland and the north-east of 

 England 20 S])ecimens are known, found between the 



" Proc. Zool. Soc. London' 1808, p. 320. 



'' In the Anstralian Reijalccvs, according lo McCuv, the Jenglh of the ])eitornl fins is '/., less than the diameter of the eye, but 

 equal lo the Icnglli oi" Ihrir base, just as in the Atlantic species, according to I,iN'iiH(i-iii and Wright. 



- Wliite in the Australian Regalccus, according to McCoy. 



'' In the Australian specinieti described b}' McCoy the end of the tail was almost pointed, but still imperfect, and in this respect this 

 specimen is the ujosl nearly perfect of all. Of the ]iosition of the vent, however, Mct'ov does not say a single word. 



