COPE I A 11 



caught by the fishermen while they were utilizing un- 

 usual depths, and it may well be common and relative- 

 ly abundant in its peculiar habitat. 



The Japanese fishermen, it is worthy of note, 

 fish their waters more closely than is done on our 

 coasts, and Dr. Jordan and Prof. Snyder say: "Ac- 

 cording to Kuma Aoki, an intelligent fisherman of 

 Misaki, it is occasionally taken in the Kuro Siwo, it 

 is not rare, and reaches a weight of 200 pounds. Al- 

 though so rare in collections the species is well known 

 to the fishermen." There is no good reason why more 

 extensive exploitation of our fishing grounds will not 

 bring to light at least an abundance equal to that of 

 the species in Japan. It is hence unjust to call the 

 fish a "strav," and one must be reserved in calling 

 it "rare." 



Since the only specimens known to be preserved 

 in museums have come from Japan, and the type of 

 the species (from Monterey, California,) which was 

 in the collection of the California Academy of 

 Sciences in San Francisco has been destroyed, the fol- 

 lowing notes regarding the specimen now at hand are 

 appended. 



The fish, 112 cm. in total length and 98 to base of 

 caudal, is bass-like with massive head and rotund body, 

 its width % its depth, but with somewhat slender cau- 

 dal peduncle, nearly round and quickly tapering. The 

 interorbital is wide, convex. The eyes are small, 

 slightly oval, lateral in outlook, and over a wide sub- 

 orbital. The maxillary ends below the center of the 

 pupil. The lower jaw projects somewhat; its tip, 

 lying in the axis of the body, continues the profile 

 lines of the head and body, which taper evenly an- 

 teriorly and posteriorly. 



The teeth are in a band six or seven series wide 

 anteriorly in the upper jaw, four or five below, nar- 

 rowing posteriorly ; recurved, slender and sharp ; none 

 of them canine-like, or enlarged; in a V shaped patch 



