POISSONS 



3. Ross (1S39-4-3). — Avec l'illustre Ross ('), qu'accompagnait le D r [. 1). Hooker 

 (Darwix, Huxley, Hooker, — le Beagle, le Rattlesnake, I'Erebus et la Terror !), commen- 

 cent nos connaissances sur les Poissons de l'intérieur du Cercle Polaire Antarctique. 



Comme on le sait, Ross découvrit la Terre Victoria, et pénétra dans les ( )uadrants 

 Australien (Q. de Victoria), Pacifique (Q. de Ross) (pointe extrême : 78° 10' S., par r6i°27' W.) 

 et Américain (Q. de Weddell) (pointe extrême : 71" 3o' S., par i5° W.). 



Il est question trois fois de Poissons pris à l'intérieur du Cercle Polaire Antarctique dans 

 la Zoologv ( 2 ) du voyage de I'Erebus et de la Terror. 



Nous examinerons ces trois cas séparément. 



1. « Pagetodes. Th. 7ry.yeTa)êeî, gelu adstrictus. Plate VIII., fig. 3, natural size. 



YYhen the ships were in the high latitude of 77 10' S., and long. 178 ' ,°, a fish was 

 thrown up by the spray in a gale of wind, against the bows of the Terror, and frozen there. 

 It was carefully removed, for the purpose of préservation, and a rough sketch was made of it 

 by the surgeon, John Robertson, Esq., but before it could be put into spirits, a cat carried il 

 away from his cabin, and ate it. The sketch is not sufficiently detailed to show either the 

 number or nature of the gill and fin rays, or whether the skin vas scaly or not, so that even 

 the order to which the fish belongs in uncertain ; and we hâve introduced a copy of the design, 

 merely to préserve a mémorial of what appears to be a novel form, discovered under such 

 peculiar circumstances. The ground colour of the body is pale blue ; much of the head, and the 

 vertical bands are dark neutral tint, and minute dark specks are scattered over the bodv and 

 caudal fin. The following measurements were noted. 



Extrême length 6 r / 4 inches. 



Length of head to tip of gill-cover .... 2 » 



» mouth 1 7s » 



» pectoral fin 1 '/ 8 ^ 



Breadth of ditto, when expanded 1 » 



Length of ventrals 2 » 



Breadth of caudal fin 7/10 » 



Diameter of bodv, nearly 1 » 



» small part of tail 2/10 » .»('') 



Ce Poisson, qui a été capturé par 77 10' S. et i78°3o'\Y. (comme Sir Joseph Dai.tox 

 Hooker a bien voulu me l'écrire ( + ), la longitude restant indéterminée dans Richardson, ainsi 



(1) J. C. Ross. A voyage of discovery and rcsearch in the Southern and Antarctic Régions during the years 

 1839-1843. [Londres, 1847). 



(2) J. Richardson and J. E. Gkav. The Zoology of H. M. S. 11 Erebus » and « Terror ». under the command 

 of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., F.R.S., during the years i83g to 1843. J. Richardson. Fishes. (Londres, 

 1S44-48). 



(3) J. Richardson. Fishes, etc. p. i5. 



(4) July 7" 1 "j°i- 



rhe Camp, 



,-. c - Sunningdale. 



Dear Sir, ° 



In answer to your letter of July 4"', I hâve the pleasure of informing you, that it was 111 Long. 17S ' .. VV. 

 that the little fish was found frozen against the bows of H. M. S. 1 error. 



I am very glad to hear that spécimens of it hâve been obtained by the famous Belgian Antarctic Expédition. 



Believe me 



Very faithfully yours 

 Ji >s. D. 1 1< 'i iker, 

 I ate Director Botanical Gardens, Kew. 



