1889.] FISH FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. 331 
berg, director of the Zoological Institute of the Messina University, 
to whom I owe many other ichthyological rarities ; and as a mark of 
my gratitude and esteem I have thought proper to give his name to 
so singular a species, which is evidently as yet undescribed. These 
specimens are now in the Central Collection of Italian Vertebrata in 
the Royal Zoological Museum at Florence. As they present differences 
in size and in other respects, I shall proceed to describe them 
briefly. 
My smallest specimen (Plate XXXIV. fig. 2) measures 283 milli- 
metres in total length ; it was caught on the 10th of May, 1887. Itis 
evidently much younger than the other two ; the two dorsals are yet 
united and the larval median fin extends as a crest to the head; the 
caudal is, however, quite distinct and remarkable for its lanceolate 
form. The abdominal cone is comparatively smaller than in the two 
older specimens, and a membrane unites its hinder portion to the 
anal fin. The lobe of the pectorals is very distinct, and the rays look 
thickened at their distal ends. The ventrals have the characteristic 
form and development. The colour of the body is yellowish white 
(in aleohol); eight very distinct broad black bands cross the body 
transversely, being slightly oblique : the first occupies the base of the 
abdominal cone, the last the root of the tail; the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 
7th are continued as a black blotch on the base of the anal fin; the 
ventral paddles are tipped and edged with black, the ray is, however, 
white ; otherwise the fins are colourless. Looking with a lens, these 
black bands and blotches result in an accumulation of dark points or 
chromatophores; this is the case also in the other specimens. 
The second specimen, according to size and age, measures 68 milli- 
metres in total length ; it is figured slightly enlarged (Plate XXXIV. 
fig. 3). It wascapturedalive near the surface in the harbour of Messina 
on the 2nd of June, 1888. It bears considerable resemblance to the 
first specimen described, but has lost some of the larval characters 
above noted ; all the median fins are well distinct, the caudal has an 
oval contour; but the abdominal cone, covered with a slightly 
silvery skin, shows still a posterior membranous fringe which 
partially unites it with the anal fin. The pores on the head and 
nape are very distinct. In colour this specimen is also very similar 
to the first one ; the black transverse bands are very well marked, 
but they are slightly fainter and the first one does not extend to the 
abdominal cone, which is well developed. Ten very distinct black 
blotches extend along the base of the anal fin and three along the 
caudal end of the second dorsal; three additional blotches are on 
the back between the 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, and 6th and 7th 
transverse bands. 
The third specimen has the aspect of an adult. It was caught also 
near the surface at the entrance to the harbour of Messina at the end 
of April 1884, It measures 78 millimetres in total length; head 16 
millimetres ; from nape to apex of abdominal cone 27 millimetres ; 
height of body immediately behind the abdominal cone 12 millimetres. 
I have figured it once and a half the natural size (Plate XXXIV. 
fig. 4). It differs especially in colour from the two younger and 
