66 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



ray scarcely oiie-tbiid the longest, the second about one-half the longest, 

 or a little more, and not two-thirds the third ray. This species, then, 

 is t^ubject to some variations in this regard. 



We must, then, with Liitken, '• leave undecided, for the present, the 

 question of the number of actual species among the forms which group 

 themselves around E. hyaclujcepludus.'''' 



The Exoccetus exiliens of Goode is probably the present species, rather 

 than E. vincigturrcc or E. exiliens. The second ray of the pectoral is 

 said to extend beyond the membrane in a si)ine-like process. This ap- 

 l)arently implies that it is a simple ray, while the shortness of the first 

 j)ectoral ray, as compared with the second, precludes the possibility of 

 Professor Goodt's specimen having been a true exiliens. 



We had at first, following Liitken and Bleeker, regarded the following 

 species as the true rondeleti of Ciiv. & Val., although the description of 

 the latter author applies equally well to the present species. 



Dr. Vinciguerra has, however, shown conclusively that the true row- 

 clcleti must be the species with the second i)ectoral ray simple, and ac- 

 cording to Dr. Sauvage (quoted by Vinciguerra) the original types of 

 the E. rondeleti show this character. The name volador becomes, there- 

 fore, a synonym of rondeleti. For a full discussion of the species, which 

 appears to be one of the most common in the Mediterranean, the reader 

 is referred to the " Eisultati Ittiologici del Violante " of Dr. Vinciguerra. 



The assertion of Moreau (Hist. Poiss. France, iii, 353), that in the same 

 individual the second ray of the pectoral is sometimes entire on one 

 side and split on the other, needs verification. i 



Of this species we have examined the original type otExocoetus vola- 

 dor 9^ inches long (34975 U. S. N. M.) from Pensacola, and three speci- 

 mens in the museum of the Academy. One of these, from the Bonaparte 

 collection, taken in the Atlantic, is 7 inches long; one, 10 inches long, 

 is from the Gulf of Mexico (Dr. J. Carson), and a third, 9 inches long, 

 from the Atlantic. A specimen from near the Island of St. Thomas is 

 in the museum of the High School at Battle Creek, Michigan. 



6. Exoccetus vinciguerrae, nom. sp. nov. (21870, U. S. N. M.). 



Exocoetm rondeleti, Liitken, Vidensk. Meddel. Foren., 1876, 404 (Atlantic); Jor- 

 dan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mns., 1882, 263; Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. 

 Fish. N. A., 1883, 904 (open sea, 46^^ N. ; 61'^ W.); Jordan & Gilbert, 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, 263 (not of Cuv. & Val.)- 



Exocatus ? (■xilic)is,VmcigneTra, Eisultati Ittiologici del Violante, 1883, 113 

 (not of Gmeliu). 



Exoccetus vincUjnemv, uoni. sp. nov. 



Habitat. — Atlantic. 



As already noticed, the description of Cuvier & Valenciennes of 

 their E. rondeleti is insufiBcient for discrimination among the species 

 with long anal and bliick ventrals. Liitken, Bleeker, and Jordan & 

 Gilbert have api)lied the name rondeleti to the present species, leaving 

 for the other the name " hrachycepluilns'''' or " volador.'''' Dr. Vinciguerra 

 has, however, shown that the original rondeleti is the preceding species, 



