Sf'Dl'EI.oiDS. 



il-.T) 



ARG^ROPEF.I-X'US OLFHIISIl. 



FiK. 2:!:!. 



LeiH/th of the inaxUhtrics altoiit ei[H<iJ ta lltv horcaiitdl Ici/i/th <>/ the licdd". JlinUiiice bctirccu the doimJ Jin jiropar 

 and the tip <>f the snout alioid half the leiii/th of the Imd//, hut perceptildn less than the f/reatest depth of the 

 bodi/, irhich is about ''5 of its length, and mili/ slif/htli/ less than {at least '' ,„ 0/) the distance befu'een the ventral 

 fns or the anal fin and the tip of the snout. I.eniftii if the base of the dorsal fin proper aboitt equal to the 

 vertical diameter of the ei/es'\ and the least dejitli of the tail (dxnit ' .^ of the said diameter'. Silrer)/ lustre of 



the bodji e.itendini/ <irer the sides of the tail. 



Fife- 233. Ariji/ropelecits Ot/e)-sii. nalurnl size. Tal;( 

 Specimen in tlio [)0.ssessi( 



ofE Ha?glioln], near Bergen, on the 28th Jan., 1890. 

 of the Bergen Mvuseuni. 



R. In: 9; 1>. 9; .-1. 12; P. 10; V. 6; C. 



1 + 1 8 '' + 1 + ,t-. 



Si/n. Stenwpti/x Olfcrsii, Cuv., R'egn. Anim., ed. 2, toin. II, p. 310, 

 tab. XIII, fig. 2; v. Dub., Koh., Vet.-Ak-ad. Handl. 1844, 

 p. 80, tab. 3, fig. 6; Lowe (Pleiirothyris), Fish. Madeir., 

 p. 64; (Argyropeleciis), Proe. Zool. Soc. London IS.'jO, p. 

 247; Cdv., Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. XXII, p. 4(I8; 

 XiLSs. (i>ternopii/.T), Skatid. Fna, Fish., p. 48i!; Gthk 

 {Arijyropelecus), Cat. Brit. Miis., Fish., vol. V. p. 386; 

 Coll., Forh. Vid. Selsk. Chrnia 1874, TilliBgsh., p. 149; 

 1879, No. 1. p. 84; N. Mag. Naturv. Chrnia, Bd. 29, p. 

 102: Storm, Vid. Selsk. Skr. Trondhj. 1883, p. 29; Gthb, 

 Dc'-j' Sea Fish.. Chall. Exped.. p. 167: Lu.LJ., Sv., Norg. 

 Fr-k.. vol. III. p. 3. 



Argi/rojx'lecus Olfersii attains, according to C(illett, 

 a length of at least 82 mm.; but most of the speci- 

 mens known are of smaller size. Cuviek's s])eci!nen 

 was 68 mm. long. The two specimens that we have 

 been enabled to examine — kindly lent us by the Mu- 

 seums of Christiania and Bergen — measure, from the 

 tip of the snout to the end of the middle caudal rays, 

 respectively 63 and 64 mm., being thus about equal in 

 size to the specimen described by v. DCben and Kokex. 



The species is one of the most singularlv shaped 

 fishes, deep and compressed as a Dory, but, like its 

 congener, with a sharp, posteriorly ascending break in 

 the inferior profile between the abdominal region and 

 the tail. In the abdominal region the depth of the 

 body is about eipial to the entire length of the trunk, 

 or about .38 — 62 % of the length of the body; whereas 

 at the vent the depth is only half of the greatest 

 depth, and about equal to Ihc length of the tail. The 

 least depth, in front of the suppnrting (spinous) caudal 

 rays, is only about ' j„ of the length of the bod v. 

 The thickest part of the bod\- is the head. According 

 to v. DuBEX and Koken. the thickness is greatest in 

 the inferior part of the body; but in our specimens 

 it is fViirlv uniform almost throughout the sides of the 

 head, measuring across the upper articulations of the 

 preopercula about '/j of the length of the body or 

 43_46' ., % of the length of the head. Both the 

 dorsal and the ventral margins are compressed and, 

 in ])art, shar|), the latter, however, from different 



Somewhat greater or less; in Ari/i/vopelecus lieiniijyiniiiis only abont '' , of the said length. 

 In Aryyropeleciis hemigymiiiis ahont - 3 thereof. 



'' 17, according to v. DOben and Korex. In Argyropelecu.'i hemir/ymnus we have counted 16. 



