492 Survey of Fishing-Grounds, West Coast of Ireland, \9>2()-\^d\. 



The results which may be deduced from this Table, and from the further 

 observations which we are about to detail, must depend, in our opinion, very much 

 on whether the large female C, which we have placed amongst the specimens 

 answering to A. lophotes, be accepted as specifically identical with the males, A, B, 

 and Z>, which are typical A. lophotes. For ourselves we regard the female as cer- 

 tainly belonging to the same species as the males, in the com^^any of two of which 

 it was taken by Mr. Newburgh. To such minor differences as do not appear from 

 the Table we have made reference below ; and the question of the identity of 

 females, which, so far as they are described, appear to exactly resemble our single 

 specimen, has been discussed by Mr. Cunningham at length. 



"We may first state that, if there is only one species, the elongation of the fin- 

 rays, &c., has nothing whatever to do with sexual maturity. In fact all the spe- 

 cimens enumerated appear to be mature, with the doubtful exception of J, while 

 L, the smallest of the series, only measures 7.9 cm. or about 3^ inches in total 

 length. Mr. Cunningham, however, claimed only a relationship between size and 

 the assumption of the secondary sexual characters, and does not mention the 

 maturity of the sexual organs in connection with this phenomenon. 



With regard to the fin-rays, our specimens A, B, and Z>, all show the typical 

 Lophotes type. The longest ray in each individual is but little shorter than the 

 length of the head, but the order of length differs as thus : — 



A, . . . . 3, 4, 5, 2, 6. 



5, .... 3, 2, and 4, 5, 6. 



D, . . . . 5, 4, 3, 2, 6. 



In the specimens cited by Mr. Cunningham the 4th ray was the longest, the 

 order being given as 4, 3, 5, 2, 6. Hence it appears that the sixth is always the 

 least elongated, but there is no constancy in the relative length of the rest. In all 

 our examples there are traces of fin membrane between the basal portions of these 

 rays, but the filamentous terminations appear to have been perfectly free. They 

 are distinctly fleshy in appearance. 



Specimen C, which is a female, has the longest ray a little more than a third 

 of the length of the head, while the sixth ray is shorter than either the first or the 

 seventh. The order of elongation of the rest is 3, 4, 2, 



The pelvic rays in the three males have the elongation characteristic of 

 A. lophotes, and appear to have been connected by membrane, in life, for the 

 greater part of their length. The distal half of the membrane uniting the 4th 

 and 5th rays of the ocular fin is black, the corresponding portion between the 5th 

 and 6th rays being dark grey. Traces of a similar pigmentation can be detected 

 \n smaller males, but there is no evidence of its existence in any females, so that 



