4:42 Survey of Fishing-Grounds, West Coast of Ireland, 1890-1891. 



specimen does not permit of our being more exact. Vaillaut remarks that the scales 

 are " assez caduques," but in this and in the sj^ecimen figured they could by no 

 means be described as deciduous, though in the third example from the Survey 

 they are almost entirely wanting. 



Lateral line. — Rising in a very gentle curve in front of the anal region : the 

 posterior portion straight. 



Colour. — Brownish grey on the back, dull silvery grey on the sides and 

 abdomen. Pectoral fins dark grey, caudal nearly black, pelvic fins colourless. 

 Antero-superior part of first dorsal black, second dorsal edged with very dark 

 grey. Jaws very dark grey. The colours are little affected by preservation in 

 alcohol, except that the sides lose much of their silvery appearance. The mucous 

 membrane of the mouth, and the peritoneum of the body-wall are black. 



The colours in Valenciennes' figure (" Hist. Nat. lies. Canar.," loc. cit.) appear 

 to be fanciful. The figure is concisely criticised by Giinther (" Cat.," loc. cit.) as 

 bad. It has further attracted the attention of Vaillant, who remarks, as also in 

 the case of the figure given by Bonaparte, that it fails to show the great size of 

 the eye as compared with the length of the snout. 



The remaining specimens measure, respectively, 30*5 cm. (12 inches) and 22*8 

 cm. (9 inches). The larger is represented in the sketch (PI. xxxix., fig. 3). 



The small ones differ from the largest specimen only in such details of proportion 

 as may be supposed to vary with the age or size of the individual. Thus the eye 

 is relatively larger, viz. about one-third the length of the head, and its vertical 

 measurement sliglitly exceeds the width of the interorbital space. The length of 

 the head is about equal to the greatest height of the body, and either measure- 

 ment is contained only about 4^ times in the total length without the caudal fin. 

 The somewhat bolder curve of the anterior part of the lateral line is perhaps 

 attributable to similar causes. The statements made in describing the median 

 fins of the largest example apply equally to the smaller ones, except that the 

 anterior ray of the first dorsal is perfect in the latter, and its condition would 

 seem to indicate that the filamentous termination is of no great length in this 

 species. There is, of course, some slight difference in the number of fin rays, the 

 formula for all three specimens being as follows : — D, i. 7—8 ; D, ii. 43—44 ; 

 A, i. 16—18 (-f- 3) ; A, ii. 17—20. All three examples have teeth on the palatine 

 bones. The specimen figured agrees in colour with the largest, and has retained 

 its scales in tolerably perfect condition, but the smallest example is almost entirely 

 scaleless, and altogether paler in colour. This is especially noticeable in the 

 distal part of the dorsal fins, where no loss of scales could possibly affect the 

 colouration. It is, no doubt, a pale variety, such as we know from Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes ("Hist. Nat. Poiss.," vi., p. 495), and Lowe (P. Z. S., 1843, p. 91), to 

 exist in Pomatomus telescopium. Lowe, indeed, comjDares the colour of Mora 



