16 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
captors about two hours after it was landed. It was perfectly 
uninjured, and presented a singularly brilliant and _ silvery 
appearance, its skin nearly resembling silver-foil; it lived about 
ten minutes after its capture. It measured fifty-three inches in 
length, and ten inches in depth at the widest part, and was perfectly 
flattened ; one inch in thickness. The silvery sheen of the skin 
disappeared more or less towards the dorsal fin, and a bluish 
black shading took its place; but I am quite certain there were 
not any black spots or markings on the body of the fish—at least, 
on the side (the right) which I had the opportunity of observing. 
The dorsal fin ‘rose gently’ from the back and extended nearly 
to the tail; it was one continuous appendage, and not broken up 
into irregular portions,* and there was no kind of anterior dorsal 
fin.t The fin was of a most marked and beautiful colour, which 
may be reproduced by giving a band painted with vermilion a 
glazing with crimson-lake; the colour of arterial blood might be 
taken as a fair resemblance. There was a small fin at P of your 
drawing,{ and two singularly rounded fins at V (ventral). The 
distance of the vent from the head was unfortunately not 
measured, but it was close to the gills. The caudal fin was 
placed eccentrically, as in your sketch; this remarkable con- 
figuration was specially noted at the time. The fish figured 
in Couch’s ‘Fishes of the British Islands’ is not the fish 
caught by the Wells fishermen, in my humble opinion. § 
There was a most remarkable arrangement of elastic tissues 
about the muzzle and buccal cavity permitting easy and extensive 
elongation of the snout and mouth several inches, and possibly of 
dilatation also.” 
When I first saw the fish, or rather its skin, the colour was 
quite gone, and all the beautiful silvery pigment, which readily 
detached itself on handling, was rubbed off the body. The 
delicate membrane of the dorsal fin, which was four inches high 
in the centre, had given way between the spines in several places, 
producing the appearance presented in Fleming’s figure; it had 
also become detached along the margin of the back, leaving a 
* As shown in Fleming’s figure, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v., p. 216. 
+ See Couch’s figure, vol. ii., p. 246, where the front portion of the dorsal fin is 
shown as separated and more elevated. 
t Pectoral; referring to a sketch of Yarrell’s figure sent in my letter. 
§ Mr. Napier expresses the same opinion. 
