94 SALMONID^-. 



ABDOMINAL 



MALACOPTERYCII. SALUONIDM. 



THE ARGENTINE. 



Scopelus Humboldtii, CUVIER, Regne An. t. ii. p. 315. 



borealis, NILSSON, Prod. p. 20. 



Serpes Humboldtii, Risso, Ich. p. 358, tab. X. f. 38. 

 Scopelus Hist. t. Hi. p. 467. 



Argentina sphyr&na, Argentine, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. iii. p. 432, pi. 76. 

 ,, ,, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 182. 



Generic Characters. Body long, slender ; the principal dorsal fin over the 

 interval between the ventral and anal fins ; a second dorsal fin, so small as to be 

 scarcely perceptible : the head short ; the mouth and gill-aperture large ; small 

 teeth on both jaws ; palate and tongue smooth. 



PENNANT, and the Rev. Mr. Low of Orkney, appear to 

 be the only British observers who have met with, on our 

 coast, examples of this brilliant little fish, which Cuvier 

 considers to belong to the genus Scopelus, as here stated; 

 and other references are added, to assist in determining the 

 species should it again occur. The Scopelus Humboldtii, if 

 identical with Pennant's Argentine, is taken to the north of 

 our island, and also in the Mediterranean, as the remarks of 

 Professor Nilsson and M. Risso imply ; and the latter natu- 

 ralist enumerates three species of the genus, of which he 

 says S. Humboldtii is the best known, but that little is 

 ascertained of their habits. 



