18 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



found in the interior of Ceara. One of these fishes was identified as 

 Rhacolepis huccalis Agassiz; the other was not identified. 



The lack of specific information regarding the origin of these fossil 

 fishes, the character of the matrix, and the species identified all lead one 

 to doubt whether they really come from Fernao Velho. At Fernao Velho 

 (Kil. 14) there are some good exposures of soft, partly-colored sandstones 

 close to the railway station, and for half a kilometer along the line toward 

 the north. The beds are all rfiore or less oxidized as far down as they are 

 exposed in the railways cuts, and in none of them were fossils of any kind 

 seen. South of Fernao Velho the oxidized sedimentary beds are exposed 

 at a number of places on and close to the railway, but everywhere they 

 are yellow, red, purple, mottled gray, and white. Nowhere were cal- 

 careous concretions found like those containing the fossil fishes. 



The facts thus far gathered fail to support the theory that the Rhacolepis 

 and the other fossil fish in the collection at Maceio come from Fernao 

 Velho. It is hoped, however, that local geologists will keep up the 

 search for evidence in the field, for though the theory of their origin lacks 

 support at present, it is not at all improbable that they are really from 

 Fernao Velho or somewhere thereabout. The verification of the occur- 

 rence of these fossil fishes in Alagoas would be a very interesting and 

 valuable contribution to our knowledge of the geology of that state. 



Conclusions from the Fossil Fishes.— heaving aside the Rhacolepis about 

 which there is some question, the fossil fishes thus far found in the state 

 of Alag6as come from the laminated dark gray bituminous shales exposed 

 at Riacho Doce, Garga Torta, Morro do Camaragibe, Porto das Pedras, 

 Barreira do Boqueirao, Pitingui, Japaratuba, and the mouth of the Rio 

 Maragogy, and from various other places on the immediate coast, where 

 they are exposed near the base of the sedimentary series. These fishes 

 represent four genera, Di^/owj^/w^, Dastilbe, Halecopsis, and Arius?, there 

 being six determinable species, four of Diplomystus, one of Dastilbe, one 

 of Halecopsis, and one of Arius? The forms are such as are to be ex- 

 pected in an estuary. 



Dr. Jordan feels some doubt in regard to the exact age of the beds, 

 and he ventures only to say that "the shales of Riacho Doce were deposited 

 in an estuary and that their age is Cretaceous or Lower Eocene, possibly 

 Upper Cretaceous." 



These fishes form the most Important collection of fossils thus far made 

 in the state of Alag6as, and they also make an interesting and valuable 

 contribution to our knowledge of the coast sediments of eastern Brazil. 



