280 Mr. J. Y. Johnson on rare and little-known 



back, i. e. behind the ventral and over the anal fin. A single 

 specimen of the genus has been taken at Madeira. 



1st D. 15. 2nd D. rudimentary. A. 29. P. 11. V. 8. 

 Cm. 16. iv. M.B. 13. 



The back and belly are black, the sides silvery grey, and there 

 are two rows of small silvery spots extending at each side from 

 the head to the tail, near the lower edge of the body. The skin 

 is delicate, and the large scales easily removed. Their edges are 

 even, and their surfaces concentrically striated. 



The body is oblong and compressed ; the highest part is at 

 the nape, from which place it attenuates backwards. The sides 

 of the body, when the skin is removed, are seen to be marked 

 with furrows diverging from the lateral line. 



The head is high, compressed, and unarmed ; the cheeks flat ; 

 the vertex marked with low ridges. The round eye is contained 

 about seven times in the head ; it is distant about one diameter 

 from the snout, and it is so high up that its border forms part 

 of the profile. The rictus is large, extending downwards with 

 an oblique curve much beyond the ^ye. The under jaw shuts 

 inside the upper, except anteriorly, where the upper jaw reverses 

 its curve. The mouth is black inside. Its upper border is formed 

 entirely by the premaxillary, which is thin and dilated down- 

 wards, the slender maxillary lying behind. The dentition is 

 curious. In both jaws there is a single row of delicate, acicular, 

 nearly straight teeth, with four or five very small teeth, of similar 

 shape, in the intervals between two larger ones. Of the larger 

 teeth, in the specimen there are twenty-nine in the upper, and 

 twenty-one in the lower jaw. There is a row of teeth on the 

 palatines, a few teeth on the vomer, and a row along the middle 

 of the fieshless tongue — all very minute. The opercular pieces 

 are delicate, smooth, and with entire margins. There are two 

 low crests on the opercle, starting from the same point, one 

 vertical and the other oblique ; the posterior margin of the 

 opercle is nearly vertical. 



The triangular first dorsal fin is placed far back over the anal 

 fin, and both are sprinkled with minute black dots. The first 

 two rays are very short and unbranched, the third ray is the 

 longest ; the posterior rays are very delicate. The second dorsal 

 fin possesses rays, but is very minute. 



The pectoral fins are oblong, and inserted very low down near 

 the angle of the subopercle. The ventral fins are rather shorter 

 than the pectoral fins, and are placed close together a little in 

 advance of the first dorsal. The anal fin commences under the 

 commencement of the first dorsal, but extends beyond it; it is 

 high in front, but the first two rays are short, the third being 



