Fishes taken at Madeira. 275 



The under jaw is shorter than, and closes inside the upper. 

 The premaxillary and mandible are set with small teeth in scobi- 

 nate bands which have no larger teeth outside. The band in the 

 upper jaw narrows backwards, but is much broader in front than 

 the band of the lower jaw. There is a chevron-shaped patch of 

 small teeth on the vomer, and also small teeth on the pharyn- 

 geals, but none on the palatines. The tongue is white, like the 

 whole interior of the mouth ; it is broad, with a slight projec- 

 tion in front. The chin carries a barbel of moderate length. 

 There are no scales on the membrane between the mandible and 

 the branchiostegal membrane. The eye is round and moderately 

 large, being contained about five times in the head. It forms 

 no part of the profile, and is distant from the tip of the snout 

 about If of its diameter. There is a space equal to a diameter 

 between the eyes. The nostrils are small, and the anterior one 

 has a skinny appendage at its hinder border. 



The vertical fins are fleshy and scaly ; none of them have white 

 edges. The first dorsal fin, which commences in the first third 

 of the total length, is triangular, and has a short base. The 

 elongate third ray is setiform above, and is nearly twice as long 

 as the fourth, the next in length. The order of the length of 

 the rays is 3, 4, 2 = 5, 6, 1, 7, 8, 9. The second dorsal fin is 

 separated by a short space from the first, than which it is less 

 high. It is long, being more than half the total length of the 

 fish, and its middle portion is lower than the rest. It extends 

 nearly to the caudal fin, and its posterior extremity is truncate. 

 The pointed pectoral fins are inserted above the middle of the 

 height, in the first fourth of the total length in front of the first 

 dorsal. The fourth and fifth rays are nearly equal, and longer 

 than the rest. 



The forking ventral ray is very long, reaching back much 

 beyond the commencement of the anal fin, and being equal to 

 about one-third of the total length of the fish. About the mid- 

 dle there is a knot or dilatation forming a kind of elbow. 



The vent, surrounded by a ring of black, is placed in the first 

 half of the total length. The anal fin commences not far distant 

 from it, under the eleventh or twelfth ray of the second dorsal 

 fin. Its length is considerably more than one-third of the total 

 length. It is not so high as the second dorsal fin, but has pre- 

 cisely the same shape, with its truncate termination a little 

 nearer the caudal fin, which is also truncate. 



The lateral line is a somewhat undulating groove which rises 

 a little under the first dorsal fin ; it then falls gently until there 

 is a rapid descent over the commencement of the anal fin, which 

 continues to the ninth or tenth ray of the anal fin ; thenceforth 

 it is straight. The scales of this line are about 100 in number, 



19* 



