PISCES 181 
origin of the anal, and a little in advance of the vertical of the 
insertion of the dorsal, its length is half that of the head: the 
pectoral, which is rather longer than the ventral, extends to 
below the origin of the dorsal: the anterior rays of the anal form 
a lobe nearly as high as the first dorsal, but generally the rays 
are lower than those of the second dorsal fin. 
Scales——Sub-circular and cycloid, no trace of spines as men- 
tioned by Hutton. The lateral line arises high, above the opercle, 
and dips to the mid line above the origin of the anal fin. 
Length.—513 mm. 
A specimen taken in the Bay of Plenty, shows that it attains 
to at least 935 mm.: this large specimen was secured by Mr. T. 
Anderton, after I left the trawler. 
Colours.——General colour deep iridescent purple, the fins 
smoky ; the lower part of the body silvery. 
Examples of Clupea neopilchardus were taken from the 
stomachs of some of the specimens. 
A single specimen was obtained north of Port Chalmers in 
20-22 fathoms; the species was several times trawled between 
Castle Point and Gisborne, in the North Island. As suggested 
by Giinther, it does not appear to live in the deeper water, none 
of our records being more than 28 fathoms, the minimum being 
16 fathoms, while it is recorded to have been cast up in numbers 
in Cook Strait after heavy gales. 
In their synopsis of the family Macrouwridae Goode and 
Bean!4 use as one of the distinguishing characters between 
Macruronus and Steindachneria the absence or presence 
respectively, of vomerine teeth. As above described vomerine 
teeth exist in the specimens of Macruronus examined by me: the 
forward position of the vertical fins, the anal especially, easily 
characterises Steindachneria argentea, at last specifically. 
Giinther draws attention to a mistake in the original illustra- 
tion, writing:—‘‘Some misunderstanding by the artist must 
have occurred, as, at any rate, the bifid barbel could not be at 
the place where he has drawn it.’’ This figure was copied in 
outline in the “‘Cat. Fish. N.Z.,’’ 4° and an enlarged copy 
of the latter was published by Goode and Bean.16 The 
tail of the original specimen was evidently incomplete. 
(14) Goode and Bean, Oceanic Ichth. 1895 p. 390. 
(15) Hector, Cat. Fish N.Z., 1872, pl. viii., fig 79. 
(16) Goode and Bean, Oceanic Ichth. 1895, pl. ci, fig. 150. 
