176 Dr. Richai'dsou's Desa'iption of the Lurking Machete 



by Mr. Gould to the British Museum. It is from this example 

 alone that the following description of the species was taken. The 

 want of anatomical details prevents me from pointing out the 

 systematic position of the fish with any confidence ; but in a short 

 paper which was read at the Manchester fleeting of the British 

 Association in June 1842-^, I stated^ on the strength of external 

 characters only, that it most probably belongs to a generic or sub- 

 generic group of the Ophidia, and that it bears a strong general 

 resemblance to the Echiodon drummondii of Thompson, though 

 its dentition is dissimilar. The genus Ophidium, which is ranged 

 by Cuvier with the Anguilliformes, ought perhaps, with the ad- 

 dition of the Machetes, Echiodons, Fierasfers, and some other fish, 

 to form a proper family near the Gadidcp, and likewise to the 

 Blennies, which should also be removed to that part of the system, 

 as I have hinted in the paper quoted above. The more remark- 

 able characters of Mach^erium may be summed up as follows : — 



Piscis malacopterygius, apodus, ensiformis, squamosus. Apertura 

 branchialis satis magna sub gula extensa. Radii membrance branchio- 

 stegse sex. Opercula conspicua. Os modice extensivum. Dentes 

 parvi, uniseriales in ossibus intermaxillaribus et in maxilla inferiore, 

 quae rictum efficiunt, ordinati. Gense et regiones suprascapulares 

 squamosBe. Pinnae verticales coalitse, radiis spinosis nullis. Pinna 

 dorsi per totum fere dorsum regnans. Linea lateralis brevis super 

 anum desinens. 



Mach^erium subducexs {Rich.), Lurking Machete. Plate VI. 



Rep. Brit. Assoc, for 1842, p. 69. 



Form elongated and compressed like a Gunnellus or Ophidium^ 

 and similar to a straight sword or butcher's knife, whence its ge- 

 neric appellation t- The profile of its body is semilanceolate, 

 and its greatest height, which is to be found a short way before 

 the vent, is comprised 9| times in the total Icng-th of the fish. 

 The tail, though regularly lanceolate, is not acute. The exact de- 

 gree of compression of the body cannot be determined from om* 

 sohtary specimen, owing to the manner in which it has been pre- 

 pared. 



The head, blunt and somewhat less high than the body, is evi- 

 dently considerably compressed. Its anterior extremity is formed 

 by the tips of the jaws, the lower jaw being rather the longest ; its 

 upper profile descends from the line of the back by a low convex 

 curve ; its under profile is flattish. The rictus of the closed jaws 

 runs backwards and slightly downwards to beneath the centre of 

 the eye. It is formed above by the strong inter maxillaries, whose 

 stout tapering pedicles equal the dental portion in length, and 



* Vide Report of the Twelfdi Meeting, Transactions of Sections, p. 69. 

 f Th. y,x-/,cit^ct, gladius. 



