FISH. 45 
As Cuvier and Valenciennes have mentioned individuals of this species, 
which varied in the number of rays in the soft dorsal from twenty-two to twenty- 
four, I cannot but consider the two above described as specifically the same, 
though in the first these rays amount to as many as twenty-five. This, which is 
the larger specimen, was taken by Mr. Darwin at Bahia Blanca, where it is said 
to have been common. The other was obtained at Maldonado. 
2. UMBRINA OPHICEPHALA. Jen. 
U. elongata; rostro obtusissimo, tumido, haud ultra fauces producto, margine infe- 
riore quadrilobato, lobis intermediis rotundatis ; fossula longitudinali inter nares, 
profunde exaratd; poris quatuor infra symphysin; dentibus velutinis, serie externd 
in maxilla superiore aculeiformi; preoperculo obsolete denticulato ; operculo mucro- 
nibus duobus parvis instructo ; spinis dorsalibus tertid et quartd longissimis, 
corporis altitudinem cequantibus; spind anali gracili, radiis articulatis dimidio 
breviort, 
DPD. 121/22; A. 1/9. €C. 17.4 Bs20%. Vis. 
Lone. unc. 6. lin. 5. 
Form.—Very much elongated; the greatest depth just one-sixth of the entire length; the head 
one-fifth. Dorsal line nearly straight. Profile falling very slightly till it reaches the nostrils, 
when it suddenly becomes vertical. Snout in consequence short, and very blunt, and not pro- 
jecting beyond the jaws; with a deep broad channel down the middle, extending from between 
the nostrils to near the mouth: on each side of this channel, the snout is very protuberant. 
The lower margin of the snout is divided into four lobes, the central pair of which are rounded : 
above each of the exterior lobes is one large pore, and an odd one in the middle. There are 
also four pores beneath the symphysis, and a short barbule, as in the last species. The eye 
has a diameter about one-fifth the length of the head, and is distant one diameter from the 
end of the snout. The nostrils, which are immediately in advance of the eye, consist of two 
round apertures, one before the other, the posterior one double the size of the anterior. Upper 
jaw a very little longer than the lower. A band of velutine teeth in each jaw; with an outer 
row above of moderately strong card, rather curving inwards and backwards, and closer-set 
than those of the U. arenata, amounting to twenty-eight or thirty in number: there are also 
some smaller card teeth behind this outer row passing insensibly into the velutine. Preopercle 
very obsoletely denticulated. Opercle with two flat points not very obvious. 
First dorsal triangular, and moderately high in the poimt ; third and fourth spines longest, 
about equalling the depth of the body; first spine very small: all the spines rather slender. 
Second dorsal about half as long again as the first, but the rays are too much broken to judge 
