1 14 CATALOGUE OF FISH. 



therefore suppose that it is an iuhabitant of the Mediterranean Sea, 

 and, moreover, from the large number of species, that it is not 

 rare. 



1. EsUNCULUS COSTAI, fig. 3. 



Named after Signore Costa, who has gained so great a reputation 

 by his investigations of the IMediterranean ichthyology. The great 

 majority of the specimens are of the thickness of the accompanying 

 figure (3), and 1 infer, therefore, that it is a hump-backed fish. 

 Their length varies from H in. to 2\ inches. 



Head small, snout short, and mandible still shorter. The small 

 mouth is cleft to beneath the eyes, which are large, prominent, and 

 have a silvery lustre. The gill-opening, larger than usual, is 

 oblique. On the gill-cover there are a few dark spots, and the 

 general colour is a reddish flesh-tint. P. 8 ; V. 5 ; D. 12 ; A. 3 ; 

 C. 24 rays. It is very difficult to reckon the rays of the transparent 

 pectorals, as well as of the other fins, with the exception of the 

 caudal, whose longer rays are very distinctly to be seen. The 

 figure, having been executed by the aid of compasses, furnishes the 

 means of making out the dimensions of the various parts. 



Genus 2. HYOPRORUS, Kdlliker. 



Diagn. Jaws elongated, straight, with mere traces of teeth. 

 Hinder nostril above the level of the eye, and before it. INIucous 

 pores round the eye and along the jaws. Body high and prominent 

 at the occiput. Tail pointed. 



2. HvopRORUs Messinensis, fig. 4. 



Hyoprorus messinensis, Kijlliker, Vcrh. d. PInjs. Med. Gesellcli. in 

 Wurzhurg, iv. p. 101 ; Trosch. Bericht. Arch, fur 1853, p. 140. 



This interesting species was discovered at Messina, in the winter 

 time, by Professor Gegenbaur. The example, for which I am in- 

 debted to Professor KoUikcr, and which I am about to describe, has 

 no visible pectoral fins, though it is not impossible that it may 

 have originally shown traces of these members. The rudimentary 

 pectorals sit so loosely in the skin that they readily disappear 

 under rude manipulation, and, therefore, to be able to determine 

 accurately whether a species possesses pectoral fins or not, 

 it is necessary to examine many examples of that] species. What 

 Professor Stummeln mentions as representing pectorals, I have 

 been unable to trace in his original specimen, and I am led to 

 believe that the indications in Professor Gegenbaur's figure are 

 merely cuticular projections under the gill-openings on the sides of 



