Miscellaneous. 95 



special interest ; and therefore we have carefully investigated the few- 

 representatives of the ichthyological fauna of that island, for which 

 science has to thank the researches of the expeditions of the 'Xovara' 

 and of the commission of the transit of Venus. Although it is only 

 known by a very small number of species (ten), this fauna has led us 

 to some results to which we beg the Academy to attend for a few 

 moments *. 



In consequence of the geological structure of the island, the spe- 

 cies found at St. Paul have a very limited geographical extension ; 

 but the study of the species is for this reason only the more 

 instructive. 



Of the species collected at St. Paul, only three have been met 

 with in other regions ; and two others of them have been captured 

 in the open sea. 



Acanthias vulgaris is a shark of very wide geographical distribution, 

 the species having been indicated in the Channel, the Atlantic Ocean, 

 and the Mediterranean, at the Mauritius, and at the Cape. The 

 types of Latris hecateia and Nemadactylus concinnus were found at 

 Van Diemen's Land by llichardson. The other species belong to 

 the genera Serranus, BovichtJiys, Sebastes, Mendosoma, Lahrichthys, 

 and Motella. 



The Serranus, named by Kner S. novemcinctus, belongs to the 

 group of Serranus scriba, which must have passed into the Mediter- 

 ranean during the Tertiary epoch, when that sea communicated with 

 the Red Sea. 



At the same epoch the type of the Sebastes of the Indian Ocean, 

 the European representative of which is Sebastes (Sebastichthys) 

 dactylopterus, emigrated towards the Mediterranean. It is to this 

 group of Sebastichthys that the Sebastes of St. Paul, which we regard 

 as a new species, belongs. Allied to the Sebastes percoides of New 

 Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, and South Australia, the Sebastes 

 Moacliezi differs therefrom by the narrower space between the eyes, 

 the longer muzzle, the narrower palatine band, the smaller backward 

 prolongation of the maxillary, the black tongue, the shorter dorsal 

 and anal spines, and the uniform tint of the body. 



It is with the species of the south of Australia (that is to say, with 

 those that we find almost under the same parallel) that the fishes 

 of the island of St. Paul present the most relationships. We have 

 mentioned Latris hecateia and Nemadactylus concinnus, and described 

 Sebastes Mouchezi, allied to S. percoides ; we can further cite two 

 species oi Labrichthys representing South- Australian species. 



One of these, Lahrichthys iMntzii, n. sp., belongs to the group 

 which includes species of which the cheeks and the base of the dor- 

 sals are garnished with several rows of scales. Our species differs 

 from those resembling it by the presence of a posterior canine tooth, 

 several series of teeth in the jaws ; the body of a light mahogany 

 colour, tinged with violet on each scale, a violet line uniting the 



* The Museum of Natural Ilittory has received the fishes of the island 

 of St. Paul, through the care of .MM. de I'lsle and Vclain. 



