daring their Qroictli and Development. 13 



time, been reduced from nineteen to six. I have no doubt, 

 however, that this number is still too great, and that it must 

 be limited to two or, at the most, to three — the two old 

 Linngean species, " the great dorado " {C . Mppurus) , which 

 attains a length of nearly 2 metres, and " the little dorado " 

 {G. equisetis), the size of which does not exceed 2| feet. In 

 the Danish text I have given comparative characters of the 

 two species, taking into account especially the changes which 

 they undergo with age during their growth, as well as those 

 which, at least in C. equisetis, are a consequence of sex, and 

 I have illustrated by figures the modifications which are pro- 

 duced in the two species in the form of the head. Most of the 

 species described and figured by authors may, without much 

 difficulty, be referred to the two cosmopolitan species in 

 question, which our sailors have frequently brought us, and 

 which are the only ones that they have been able to present 

 to us. I must, however, speak with some little reserve of 

 the C pelagica {azorica, sicida) of the Mediterranean, which 

 has been adopted by most of the authors who have paid 

 attention to the ichthyology of that sea, but which, neverthe- 

 less, probably does not differ specifically from C. liippurus^ 

 L. ; at least I was obliged to regard as a young individual of 

 the latter species a small " C. pelagica " from the Mediter- 

 ranean which was kindly submitted to my examination under 

 the above name by an Italian museum. In support of my 

 opinion, that in reality there exist only two species of Cory- 

 phcBna, I will cite two other circumstances : — one that l)r. 

 Giinther (although he formally recognizes more) really re- 

 fers all the specimens at his disposal to these two species, and 

 thus in fact only recognizes these ; the other, that I have 

 been able without difficulty to arrange the numerous exam- 

 ples of young Corypha;nce from 18 to 62 millims. long, cap- 

 tured by our mariners, in two series representing two species, 

 and to refer these series to the two species in question and to 

 no others — namely, the more numerous one to C equisetis, and 

 the less numerous to C. hippurus. Further, the young Cory- 

 phcenoi have so little resemblance to the adults in the matter 

 of habit, that they may easily give rise to mistakes ; it is 

 thus that a young C. hippurus was described by Pallas under 

 the name of (7. fasciolata. I have given comparative descrip- 

 tions of young individuals of the two species in their successive 

 stages and in their relations to the adults ; and I shall here 

 confine myself to referring to the figures on my pi. iii., only 

 remarking that the greater length of the ventrals in C. hip- 

 purus, and especially their attachment beneath the pectorals, 

 more forward than in C. equisetis, furnish one of the best 



