330 PROF. H. H. GIGLIOLI ON A NEW GADOID-_ [June 18, 
fish ; they are inserted below and in front of the pectorals, at the base 
and on each side of the great abdominal cone. They are of great size, 
and the very robust rays, five in number, are all elongated and 
considerably exceed the intervening membrane, which only unites 
their basal portions ; the internal and external rays are considerably 
less developed than the three median ones, the internal one is the 
shortest ; both are simple and without any trace of terminal dilata- 
tions. The three median rays all terminate in a large beautiful 
lanceolate leaf-like blade, through which, however, the ray continues 
to the pointed extremity ; they are all prolonged far beyond the two 
first mentioned rays, but the outer one is considerably shorter than 
the other two, it is smooth and its terminal blade is smaller The 
third and fourth rays, counting from the outer one, are subequal, and 
bent backwards extend very nearly to the root of the tail; at about 
the basal third of their length they both present a singular angular 
dilatation, which looks like a thickened articulation, but which is 
merely, so far as I can make out, a membranous dilatation. The 
great lanceolate terminal blades are very large, being little less than 
one fourth of the total length of the ray which supports them ; their 
edges are sinuous and they terminate in a fine point. Judging from 
their length, strength, and development, these ventral paddles must be 
most efficient for swimming ; I know of no other fish possessing any- 
thing like them, and have therefore thought proper to derive from 
so peculiar a character the generic name which I have proposed for 
this singular fish. 
The next remarkable feature of my EHretmophorus is the huge 
abdominal cone, the base of which occupies the entire space between 
the insertions of the ventrals and that of the anal fin. This cone 
appears to develop with age, and it is certainly larger and more 
prominent in my oldest and biggest specimen, equalling in height 
that of the body just behind the pectorals, where it is greatest. 
This abdominal cone is quite smooth; its skin, devoid of scales, is 
silvery. I have not ventured to open it in any of the three 
specimens yet discovered, for fear of damaging to a certainty these 
rare and very delicate creatures ; but the supposition that it contains 
most of the alimentary canal cannot be far from the truth; at its 
apex, which becomes cylindrical, is an aperture, evidently the vent, 
and behind this a slender conical papilla on which I could not 
distinguish anything like an opening. 
The scales cover the whole body except the head and abdominal 
cone, which are, as J have said before, naked. They are small, very 
adherent, cycloid, and marked with concentric lines. I have figured 
a few magnified (Plate XXXIV. fig. 1), to give an exact idea of their 
characters ; they are very similar to those of Hypsirhynchus hepaticus, 
Facciolaé. A thin pellucid epidermal layer covers them. 
Only three specimens of Hretmophorus kleinenbergi have, so far 
as I know, yet been captured and preserved; they were caught alive 
with a hand-net along with other pelagic animals on the surface at the 
mouth of the harbour of Messina, as the current was flowing in. I 
owe them to the kindness of my friend Professor Nicolaus Kleinen- 
