83 
verticali; dentibus Brame similibus subscobinatis recurvis, exter- 
nis majoribus; palatinis vomereque armatis. Operculum simplex 
inerme. Preoperculum basi eximie dentato s. subcalcarato ; sub- 
operculo interoperculoque denticulatis. 
Pinne malacopterygiz, s. omnes radiis mollibus. Ventrales subju- 
gulares. Pinna dorsalis analisque unica conformis lata: caudalis 
simplex integra rotundata. Membrana branchiostega septem-ra- 
diata. 
Squame magne trapeziformes postice emarginate cycloidee; um- 
bone in aculeum recurvato-erectum producto. 
TARACTES ASPER. 
D.5 +28; A. 3420; P.17; V.14+5; c. M. B. 7; 
Squame corporis in serie longitudinali 43 fere. 
The generic name imposed at its first discovery on this particularly 
interesting, though plain and sober-coloured little fish, expresses the 
difficulty experienced in settling its relations of affinity, which are 
indeed so obscure and complicated, that but for the subsequent dis- 
covery of Brama longipinnis, with its similarly, though contrariwise, 
hooked scales, its true position, next to Brama, with analogies to 
many other families (e. g. Zenide, Caproide, Scombride), must have 
remained in abeyance. 
Preracuis Papiztio. P. longitudine altitudinem plus quater multi- 
plicatam equante: pinna dorsali prima analique ceruleo-violaceis, 
lituris inter radios aureo-viridibus postice biseriatis ; hac radio 
secundo, illa quarto validiore, ceteris capillaceis flecuosis. 
ae eas : : : : 3+1.+ VIII. 
$e Di 383.2% D.. 63 ¢A« 354 P..485,. Vi. 65 1; 34. VIL 
Nothing can exceed the splendour of the deep violet-blue, with 
the gold and green iridescent dashes or short stripes between the 
rays of the first dorsal and the anal fins. It resembles the breast of 
certain Humming-birds, and contrasts singularly with the pure uni- 
form silvery whiteness of the whole head and body. The second 
dorsal fin, though very small, is sufficiently distinct in this species, 
and possibly has been merely overlooked or mistaken in imperfectly 
preserved specimens of others for an accidentally detached portion 
of the first dorsal fin. The proportions, not only of the depth, but 
of the head, eye, muzzle and thickness, differ notably from those 
assigned by MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes to their P. oculata, of 
which it wants besides the dorsal fin-spot. The ventral and caudal 
fins are also longer. It agrees in these and other points far better 
with P. trichopterus, P. Carolinus, or P. guttatus (Coryphena velifera, 
Pallas) of these authors, but differs from them still more widely than 
it does from P. oculata, in the numbers of the fin-rays. 
ASTRODERMA PLUMBEUM. 
The Madeiran Astroderma recorded under the name of A. cory- 
phenoides, Bon. (Proceed. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 37; Trans. iii. p. 7), 
