LOPHOBRANCHII. 47 



Descr. — Length of the snout equal to the distance between 

 the fore border of the orbit and the base of the pectoral fin. A 

 smooth crest runs from the forehead to the mouth. Head scarred 

 and traversed by elevated streaks. A line in low relief runs between 

 the orbit and bind- bead ; and there is a small keel on the occiput, 

 nuchal shield and pectoral ring;. Gill-cover bulging, with a trace 

 of a keel at its origin, and stripes in both directions. An old 

 female in the British .Museum, which I have figured, has a yel- 

 lowish-brown colour, with black back and belly. Mr. Bridges 

 brought it from South America. Its body is four times as high 

 as it is broad. xVnother female, not so long, but having a higher 

 body, has a bronze lustre on the body and gill-cover, silvery 

 pectoral ring and belly, and traces of bluish cross-bars on the 

 first and last body-rings. It was sent from Peru by M. Dubois 

 to the Paris collection. An old female, collected during the 

 Voyage of the Favorite by Eydoux, is the one whose portrait 

 I have given. A young female in the British Museum shows 

 traces of cross-bars on the tail. A moderately old female has 

 the back neither so much compressed nor so high, yet with some 

 elevation in the middle of its length. The ground-colour in this 

 one is yellowish-brown : it is from Peru, and was presented to 

 the Paris Museum by M. Dubois. Another young female, 

 5"08 inches long, is only one and a half times as high as it is 

 broad, and the back is only half the breadth of the belly. The 

 general colour is dark brownish-green, with lighter belly and 

 gill-cover: it is also in the Paris Museum. A male in the 

 British Museum, which has an egg-pouch l - 69 inch long, has a 

 projection of the belly at the 8th ring, a cross-belt on each ring, 

 and is irregularly speckled with white and yellowish spots. It 

 was sent from South America by Mr. Bridges. A male mea- 

 suring 591 inches in length, and having a ventral pouch of 

 I '13 inch, is dark, with five still darker cross-bars on the body. 

 The back and sides are traversed by slender interrupted black 

 lines, and are dotted. It belongs to the Paris Museum, and is 

 from the Auckland Islands. A very young female in the British 

 Museum shows 5 cross-bands on the body and 12 on the tail. 

 A male from New Zealand, presented to the Paris Museum by 

 M. De Belligny, is finely dotted by irregular brown spots having 

 black borders. The old female which is here figured is 8*62 

 inches long. The length of its head is 1*14 inch; of its snout 

 068 inch ; its greatest height is 0"6*3 inch ; its thickness - 16 in.; 

 and the length of its tail 5"20 inches. 



Rad.—V. 13 ; D. 35 or 36 ; A. 3 ; C. 10. 



It is a native of South America, Peru, Chili, Auckland Islands, 

 and New Zealand. 



