Freif/twati'i' lush of Algeria. 393 



line ami the rout ut" the ventral, and in B. fietifinsis Ji'cc ; 

 •vviiereas in the speeiniens of IJ. loni/iceps in the British Museum 

 the number is eii/Itt. 



This led us t<» duultt tiie taet of the last-mentioned bcin_<2; an 

 Afriean speeies at all ; and \vv. be<j^;^'ed M. Ciuiehenot to inform 

 us as to the source whence the speeinu'u in the Paris ^luseum 

 was obtained, and the numbi-r of transverse scales, lie states 

 in reply : — "J'ai examine aveo beaueoup de soin les deux 

 indi vidua sees du Ji. luwjiccpsj les seuls que possbde notrc 

 musee, et sur lescjuels j'ai compte les deailles qui se trouvent 

 entrc la ligne lateralc et I'insertion des nageoires ventrales ; 

 elles sont au nombre de 7 ou de 8. Ces deux excmplaires 

 proviennent du Jourdain, et non d'AlLr«'rie. Jc doute beau- 

 coup de Fexistenee de 7^. luiKjlcops en Algerie, indi(|uee d'apres 

 une tete en tres-mauvais etat de conservation que j'ai trouvee 

 dans un des lacs dc la Calle lors de mon sejom- en Afrique, 

 et que je crois avoir raj)portee, niais h. tort, ^ ce poisson." 



This proves beyond doubt that B. lomjiceps is not an African 

 species. 



li). Clnpea Jiiita^ Cuv. 



llab. Nearly all the rivers of Algeria. Nile] coasts of 

 Europe. 



20. ylnguilla vulgaris^ Turton. 



It is certain that the Afriean eel described as a new species 

 by Guichenot under the name of A. callensis'^ is identical 

 with the common European species. It is found everywhere 

 in Algeria. 



21. Si/ngnathus algtriensis^ n. sp. 



The last fish on our list is the only new species wiiicli we 

 have observed ; and it is interesting, as it is rare to find Syn- 

 gnathidaj in water entirely fresh and beyond tidal infiuencesf. 



Head ^ of the total length ; snout half the length of the 

 head, and scarcely compressed. Diameter of orbit ^ of the 

 length of the head ; space between eyes coucave, and less 

 than the diameter of orbit ; occiput slightly elevated and 

 raised in a crest, which extends from the first body-ring to 

 the extremity of the snout. Opercles swollen, finely striated, 

 with a small ridge on the anterior portion only. Trunk 

 heptagonal, rather slender, twice and a quarter as long as the 

 head, and, measured from extremity of snout to vent, once 

 and a half in the length of the tail. There are fifteen pairs 



* Explor. Scieu. de I'Alg. Poiss. p. Ill, pi. 7. f. 1. 



t Since this was wi-itten we have seen the eighth A"olume of Dr. Giiu- 

 ther's Catalogue, at p. 1G4 of wliich he describes this species from the 

 specimens sent by us to the British Museum. 



