272 Prof. Kaup on new Genera and Species of Fishes. 
Leptocephalus diaphanus, Kaup, Apod. Fish. pl. 17. fig. 9. 
This species, of which I have received the greatest number 
from M. Keferstein, is much more constant in the proportions 
of its body. The bulbus (Kaup, pl. 17. fig. 9 a) frequently 
appears blackish through the skin, from the presence of food. 
Four specimens gave the following dimensions :— 
L To the bulbus or stomach 4 to the anus 54, to the caudal 57 mill. 
. 33 23 2 3, 33 52, 33 53 3) 
3. ” ” 30, ” 67, ” 66 ” 
4, 3° 33 28, 39 58, 39 61 33 
Out of a great number of individuals I only met with two 
which showed the course of the intestine. 
Leptocephalus brevirostris, Kaup, Apod. Fish. fig. 15. 
A specimen from Messina exhibits all the characters of that 
figured by me, except that it has a rather more pomted head and 
a somewhat longer tail. 
Body 48, tail 21 mill. in length 
Tilurus trichiurus, Kaup. 
Unfortunately my figure, given at pl. 16. fig. 5 of the ‘ Apodal 
Fishes,’ is drawn from a specimen in which the tail was de- 
fective. The hair-like point, which measures 18 mill. in length 
from the anus, is usually lost when several individuals are sent 
in the same bottle. In this case the tails are so twisted together 
that, in separating them, a portion of the filament with the apex 
is lost, especially from the point at which it becomes blackish. 
If the black apex of the tail be quite perfect, it forms at the 
extremity a coil, which is drawn up in the form of a screw, in a 
gelatinous mass. With the highest magnifying power, I was 
unable to ascertain the true nature of the apex of the tail (which 
is as large as a pin’s head) and of its envelope. Is the capillary 
portion with the coil a prehensile tail? Is the gelatinous mass 
animal mucus, or does it consist of animals which the caudal 
extremity seizes and surrounds voluntarily or accidentally ? 
These questions can be cleared up only on the spot and by the 
examination of many individuals. 
Genus Porosroncuus, Kaup, n.g. Pl. III. fig. D. 
Dr. Heckel has furnished the Berlin Museum and myself 
with specimens of an excessively’ small and nearly linear fish, 
which was taken near Messina. It is so remarkably novel a 
form, and possesses such abnormal characters, that I should be 
surprised if it had escaped the Italian ichthyologists. Its cha- 
racters are as follows :— 
Diagnosis. Head and guttural sac large. yes rather large, 
a 
a 
Ti a Ae 
Se NE RL ao ae ae ee 
