Notices of several Fishes of Rare Occurrence. 123 



LV1I. fig. 186. Storer's Synopsis, p. 244. Proceed. Host. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist. II. p. 72. 



A specimen now in the Society's collection was captured 

 at the Forest River Lead Works in Salem, Aug. 9, 1845. 

 It was observed in the act of feeding upon the barnacles 

 (Balanus ovularis) which grew upon the wood work of the 

 pier, and was noticed for some time before it was secured. 

 It is a Southern species, and therefore a stranger to us. Its 

 size is appended as follows, viz : Length 21 inches, depth 

 across from base of the dorsal spine 8 1-2 inches. This 

 dorsal spine is single, measuring two inches in length, ser- 

 rated on the posterior edge, and forms a sort of armature. 



LEPTOCEPHALUS GRACILIS. STOKER in Proceed. Bost. Soc, 

 Nat. Hist, vol. II. p. 70. Storer's Synopsis, p. 272. 



Through the kindness of George H. Devereux, the speci- 

 men of this new and exceedingly rare little fish, was for- 

 warded to the Society in the year 1845. It was taken at 

 Cherryfield, Maine, from a basin formed in a timber raft ; 

 and its occurrence introduced a new genus to the Ichthyo- 

 logy of this continent. Its appearance is like that of a 

 narrow piece of tape, ending in a somewhat acute point at 

 the snout, and diminishing gradually in a similar way, to 

 the end of the tail, which is however rather more blunt. It 

 is also so thin that when alive it must have been transpa- 

 rent. In Pennant's British zoology, vol. III. p. 212, pi. 28, 

 mention is made of a species still rare in England, under 

 the title of Leptocephalus Morrisii. The same is described 

 and figured in London's Mag. of Nat. Hist. vol. 6. p. 531 ; 

 and reference is made to four other specimens in the fifth 

 vol. pp. 313. 742., occurring in Great Britain. The Cher- 

 ryfield specimen is a distinct species, as shown by Dr. 

 Storer in his observations, as quoted at the head of this 

 paragraph. 



THYNNUS VULGARIS. Cuv. AND VALENC. Common Tu- 

 ny. See Yarrell's British Fishes, vol. I. p. 134, and fig. 

 Storer's Report of the fishes of Massachusetts, p. 47, &c. 



