56 FISHES OF NEW ZEALAND. 



teeth on tlie palatine bones ; pectorals small ; dorsal in the centre of the 

 body ; adipose fin small ; anal long ; caudal divided into three portions, 

 the central one short and pointed ; branchiostegals numerous ; pseudo- 

 branchiai none. 

 New Zealand. 



90. PHOSICHTHYS ARGBNTBUS. sp. nov. CM. 



B. 20 - 21 ; D. 13 ; A. 25 ; V. 8 ; P. 9. 



Length equal to four and two-fifths that of the head, or five and two- 

 fifths the height of the body ; length of the head three and three-fifths 

 its breadth ; mouth very wide, the distance from the snout to the end of 

 the maxillary being nearly as great as the height of the body ; eye in 

 advance of the centre of the cleft, and its diameter rather less than the 

 length of the snout ; teeth in the upper jaw small, cardiform, in a single 

 series, with two long fangs in front on each side ; mandibulas with seven 

 long teeth on each side, some of which have a smaller moveable tooth 

 just beloind, and the hinder ones with small cardiform teeth between, in 

 front there is an outside row of curved teeth ; teeth on the palatine bones, 

 longer in front ; operculum weak, formed by three thin bony scale-like 

 plates ; gill openings very wide ; pectorals placed very low dowai, in 

 length about half the height of the body ; dorsal commencing about half 

 way between the snout and the commencemefit of the caudal ; adipose 

 fin half way between the end of the dorsal and the base of the caudal, 

 in length about one-sixth the height of the body ; venti-als rather in 

 front of the dorsal, and longer than the pectorals ; anal tapering off 

 posteriorly and ending at a distance from the end of the tail rather less 

 than twice the smallest depth of the body. 



Back brownish grey ; sides silvery ; abdomen black, with niimerous 

 (40-45 on each side) silvery bands, above each of which is placed a 

 phosphorescent organ slightly jiromineut on a black globular body ; fins 

 white, transjiarent ; inside of the mouth black ; ii*is white. 



Cook Straits, thrown on shore after heavy gales. 



About 12 inches in total length. 



Dr. Hector obtained a small fish in Milford Sound, which he thinks 

 was a species of Scojyelus. The di-awing that he made at the time 

 shows that it was a very different fish from the one here described, but 

 I am viuable to offer an opinion as to whether it belonged to this family 

 or to the SG02)eUdce. 



