62 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



Hahitaf. — Warm seas, north to New York, and the Mediterranean. 



Of this species we have examined three specimens, all of them in 

 the museum of the academy at Philadelphia. The smallest of these 

 (Scinches long; Atlantic 5 Bonaparte collection) is a typical /wrca^ws, 

 having at the chin two ribbon-like appendages, one attached to each 

 side of the mandible a short distance from the symphysis. These bar- 

 bels are a little shorter than the eye ; they are black on their distal half. 

 This specimen agrees well with the figure of De Filippi and Verany 

 a,bove cited {E. procne). 



The two larger examples (one 5 J, the other 6 inches in length, both 

 collected at Newport, R. I.) agree with the smaller one in all respects 

 except that they show no traces of barbel. We are compelled to be- 

 lieve them the adult of /wrccr^ws, which species, therefore, loses the bar- 

 bels with age. As this is certainly true in Parexoccetus mesogaster also, 

 we feel justified in regarding all bearded Exocoeti as immature indi- 

 viduals. 



We have placed, with Liitken, the E. nuttalli in the synonymy of ^. 

 furcatus. In Le Sueur's figure of E. nuttalli the barbels are repre- 

 sented as trilobate and as being attached near the angle of the mouth. 

 They are also figured as longer than the head, but this may be true in 

 a very young specimen, such as Le Sueur had before him. The colora- 

 tion is that of the young of this species, and of several others. 



The specimen described and figured by Vinciguerra as Exocoetus ma- 

 culipinnis agrees in all essential respects with the two larger (beardless) 

 examples, which we refer to E. furcatus. We therefore regard it as be- 

 longing to this species, and as representing a form more mature than 

 the "jorocwe" and "/jircofws," the '■'■ 7iuttalli^'' being a still younger form 

 of the same. 



The following description is drawn up from the two specimens from 

 Newport : 



Head 4^ in length to end of last caudal vertebra; depth 5^; D. 13; 

 A. 9 ; lateral line with about 46 scales ; length of specimens 6 and 5h 

 inches. Body rather slender, compressed. Head not very broad, much 

 narrowed forward ; the snout rather pointed ; head more compressed than 

 in other species. Interorbital area flat; its width at anterior margin of 

 orbit equal to diameter of eye ; 3 in head ; at posterior margin of eye 

 this is half greater. Mouth §mall; maxillary not reaching orbit ; length 

 of maxillary 4f in head ; length of mandible 2^ in head ; length of snout 

 4^ in head; eye 3 in head. Pectoral fin long and broad; its length If 

 in length of body ; tips of pectorals reaching to tenth ray of dorsal. 

 First pectoral ray simple; slightly more than half length of fin; sec- 

 4 ond ray divided; third and fourth rays longest. Origin of ventrals 

 midway betweeu posterior margin of eye and last caudal vertebra. 

 Ventrals long ; 24 in length of body ; their tips reaching past anal and 

 almost to caudal fin. Dorsal fin rather high ; its longest ray 1^ in head ; 

 longest anal ray about 2 in head. Origin of dorsal in advance of that 



