38 



Synopsis, p. ISO, proves, upon better acquaintance, distinct from the 

 common British Hake, M. vulgaris, Cuv., Yarr., &c. (Gadus Merluc- 

 cius, L.). Instead of being even, the dorsal and anal fins are each 

 produced at their hinder end into a rounded lobe ; the jaws are 

 nearly equal in length ; the teeth are large and numerous ; the scales 

 small. I do not name it, for I believe it has already been called by 

 Mr. Swainson M. sinuatus ; and I am doubtful whether it maj"- not 

 also be the M. esculenius of Risso, iii. 220, though in his synonyms 

 he has confounded it with the true Northern Hake. I believe 

 it to be the fish imperfectly figured long ago by Salviana, p. 73, 

 copied by Willoughby, t. L. membr. 2. n. 1, which has usually been 

 referred to also for the Northern Hake. 



Fam. EsociD.^. 



CvPSELUaUS PULCHELLUS. 



From want of materials for comparison, I am unable to give cor- 

 rectly the specific characters of this most elegant little Flying-fish, 

 which is remarkably characterized by two or three bright rose- 

 coloured horse-shoe-shaped marks on each side of the belly, one be- 

 hind the other. The ventral fins are placed a little behind the 

 middle of the body, not reckoning the caudal fin, and their tips 

 reach to the base of the latter. The tips of the pectoral fins reach 

 only to the end of the base of the dorsal fin, which is large, high, 

 and produced. The anal fin is small and low, but a little produced 

 backwards. The cirrate appendage to the lower jaw is like a 

 leathern flap or apron, torn iri'egularly at the bottom into strips or 

 thongs. I willingly abandon my own MS. name of Cheilopogon for 

 this genus, distinguished from Exocatits by the variously-appendaged 

 lower jaw, in favour of the designation which I find this group of 

 fishes has received from Mr. Swainson whilst this paper has been 

 going through the press. 



Fam. DioDONTiD^. 



Diodon Hystrix, a. Linn. — D. punctatus, Cuv. — Histrix piscis 

 Clusii, &c., Will, t.l.b. 



A single example only has occurred. 



Fam. Squalid^. 



Carcharias MicROPS. — " Tuburao." 



The Tubarao of Madeira proves to be a genuine species of Car- 

 charius, as defined by MM. Miiller and Henle in the Magazine of 

 Natural History for the year 1838, p. 35. It is remarkable for the 

 smallness of the eye ; and the teeth, as reported previously by the 

 fishermen, are really feeble in proportion to its bulk ; they are in 

 only two rows, and precisely similar in both jaws. The tail is very 

 large and powerful. The individual examined measured eight feet 

 five or six inches in length. I name it only provisionally, and abs- 

 tain again from attempting a specific character, — -deferring, in both 

 points, to the expected i)ublication of MM. Miiller and Henle, 

 amongst whose indicated " twenty species" it will probably be found. 



