81 



are distinct, or only so in sex. But for its spotted body, I should 

 be greatly tempted to refer it to the imperfectly known C. imperialis, 

 Raf. (See Cuv. and Val., Hist. 9, 286.) In this uncertainty as to 

 both rank and synonyms, less ultimate confusion w ill result from a 

 distinct specific name, applied provisionally, than from a doubtful 

 reference. It is therefore called after the Honourable C. E. C. Nor- 

 ton, to whose able pencil I was first indebted for a knowledge of the 

 fish. Two other supposed individuals have since occurred, of which, 

 however, one was unfortunately neglected, and the other had been 

 two much injured by a blow, beating in the interparietal crest, to be 

 fully satisfactory. This last individual, taken November 22nd 1838, 

 was apparently a male ; but I could not satisfy myself completely even 

 on this point, and infer it only from my inability to discover any trace 

 of the ovaria. 



Coryphana equisetis, L. 1, 447. — " Dourada,"' " Z). yemea," or 

 " D. amarella." — C. equisetis, Cuv. and Val., 9, 297, t. 267. 



This may at once be distinguished from the foregoing species by 

 its unspotted body, marked only by a few scattered, clear, but ex- 

 tremely minute black specks, very different from the diffused, pale, 

 dusky, larger, spots of the preceding. The pectoral fins are also very 

 short, the dorsal fin with fewer rays (53—55), the number of ver- 

 tebrae greater (33), the form deeper and less elongated than even in 

 the first species here recorded. It also is a smaller fish. Being 

 our commonest species, I have seen numerous examples, but none 

 exceeding two feet in length. The average length is very uniformly 

 from twenty to twenty-two or twenty-three inches. 



This fish, which is the commonest of the " Dourados" of Madeira, 

 differs from C. equisetis, L., as described by MM. Cuv. and Val., 

 under the name of C. equisetis, only in the head being rather longer 

 than high, instead of higher than long, in the dorsal fin being lower 

 in its highest part, and also lower be/ore than at its hinder end ; and 

 lastly in the profile being oblique from the beginning, whilst in C. 

 equisetis, Cuv. and Val., "il monte d'abord verticalement sur le tiers 

 k peu pres de son contour." The first three discrepancies might 

 well be merely due to slightly different modes of measurement. 

 The latter is less easily accountable ; for in this Maderan fish at 

 least, of which I am well acquainted with both sexes, I find nothing 

 to confirm M. Dussumier's observation, that a greater height of the 

 interparietal crest is characteristic of the male in Coryphcena. See 

 Cuv. and Val. 12, Pref. p. vii. 



Pompilus Rondeletii, Will. 215, t. O. 1,/. 6. 



Centrolophus pompilus, Yarr. 1, 158. 



pompilus, Cuv. and Val. 9, 334, t. 269. 



morio (Lacep.) lb. 342. Rariss. 



Two examples have occurred during the writing of this paper; 

 the first was uniformly blackish, without spots or marks, thus an- 

 swering to Centrolophus Morio of Lacepede : the second individual 

 was smaller, and was marked precisely as in MM. Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes' figure (t. 269) of C. pompilus. 



I haA'e no hesitation in uniting both these fishes, with their re- 



