112 Transactions. — Zoology. 



considerable size, is more or less ovate, very rarely nearly 

 circular — the two diameters differ by y^g-iin. The head 

 possesses a small terminal mouth with thick upper and lower 

 lips. When the mouth shuts, the nasal processes of the 

 premaxillse are retracted into a groove on the snout, and cause 

 the contents of the adjacent olfactory sacs to be expelled. 

 The elongated snout bears on each side a single olfactory 

 aperture surrounded by a prominent rim. In two specimens 

 I found a double aperture on one side. 



Dorsal fin : Eichardson and Giinther give its formula as 

 D 17/13. Of twenty- seven specimens, I found six with 

 D 16/13, twelve with 17/12, and nine with 17/13. The 

 membrane is deeply notched between the anterior spines, and 

 the middle eight or nine soft rays are usually bifid. 



Ventral (anal) fin : Eichardson gives A 9 ; Giinther A 10. 

 I found seventeen specimens with A 9, six with A 10, and 

 three with A 8. 



Caudal fin : Eichardson gives C 12|. I found C 12f , the 

 anterior members being small nodules. 



The pectoral fin has its eight rays generally unforked. 



The pelvic fin has an extremely strong spine ; its five soft 

 rays are, according to Eichardson, unforked ; but I found only 

 the 1st ray invariably so, and of thirty specimens, eleven had 

 the 2nd ray forked, twenty-seven the 3rd, twenty-two the 

 4th, and six the 5th. 



The gill-membrane is united with the adjacent integument, 

 and the gill-opening is small and vertical. The head has no 

 spinous points, but only superficial granulations, which are 

 arranged in radiating lines on the parietal, preopercular, and 

 posterior part of the suborbital, and in two main and several 

 smaller lines in the hollow interorbital space. The clavicle 

 shows a strong granular disc behind the gill-opening, and the 

 supra-clavicla has a smaller granular surface near its upper 

 end. 



The body is clothed with thick, smooth, leathery skin, 

 which can easily be stripped off, and contains no hard parts 

 except lateral-line structures. The ground-colour is brown, 

 marbled with black, sometimes in large specimens mottled 

 with grey ; a pale-pink hue often appears, and the fins are 

 sometimes bordered with orange. 



The lateral line is indicated as an interrupted groove 

 crossing alternate light and dark vertical bands of skin, each 

 lodging a distinct structure ; the light bands have each a 

 small flat elevation interrupting the groove and covering a 

 bony tube : of these tubes there are about thirteen pairs. On 

 each dark band a short transverse (vertical) groove runs down- 

 wards from the main lateral-line groove, and ends at the side 

 of a fine papilla. 



