1863.] MR. J. Y.JOHNSON ON NEW FISHKS FROM MADEIRA. 37 



one opening on each side to the pituitary sac, and that is small and 

 transversely oval. The mouth-cleft is small and subvertical ; the 

 under jaw rather longer than the upper. The superior border of 

 the mouth is formed by the narrow premaxillary, much of which, 

 when the mouth is closed, passes underneath the maxillary. The 

 latter is much dilated below, and its exposed portion is triangular. 

 It reaches back to the vertical from the middle of the eye. There 

 are small scales on the premaxillary, and large ones on the maxillary. 

 There is a broad band of small conical, slightly curved teeth, nar- 

 rowing backwards in each jaw, the innermost row being slightly 

 longer. There is also a narrow band of small teeth on the palatines ; 

 but the vomer and tongue are unarmed. The tongue is broad, fleshy, 

 and black. Inside the teeth in each jaw there is a black flap ex- 

 tending from one side of the mouth to the other. The opercular 

 pieces are clothed with scales, and their margins are unarmed and 

 rounded. 



The long dorsal fin is very high and falcate in front, this portion 

 being covered with small scales. The fin is low behind, and near its 

 termination the broadly expanded apices of the rays project beyond 

 the membrane. The length of the fin, compared with the total 

 length of the fish, is as 1 to 2\. The pectoral fins are long, pointed, 

 and subfalcate, and they reach back as far as the middle of the dorsal 

 fin. The base is clothed with small scales ; and in the axil there is 

 a membrane bearing eight or nine scales, which connects the upper 

 side of the base with the side of the body. When the fin is pulled 

 away from the body, these scales spread out and cover up the hollow 

 of the axil. The ventral fins are inserted under the bases of the 

 pectorals ; they are short, and their apices are truncate. The spine 

 is very short, and there is a scale-like appendage in the axil. The 

 long anal fin resembles the dorsal in shape, being high and falcate 

 in front ; the falcate portion scaly ; the hinder portion low, with the 

 rays projecting beyond the membrane. It terminates on the vertical 

 of the termination of the dorsal. The vent is placed a little before 

 the commencement of the anal fin. The caudal fin is lunate, and 

 has a wide spread ; its base is scaly. 



The middle portion of the tail is raised or thickened longitudinally, 

 so as to form a kind of flat, broad keel. Near the base of the caudal 

 fin there are some transverse grooves above and below. 



Forty-five rows of scales may be counted between the border of the 

 opercle and the base of the caudal fin, and on the fin itself there are 

 nine or ten rows of small scales. There are about twenty-five series 

 of scales in the height of the body. The scales are very broad, and 

 their surfaces are radiate-striate, without the slightest trace of an 

 umbo or spine. 



One of the examples, measuring 32| inches in length, proved on 

 being opened to be a female, and had an egg-sac 5k, inches long and 

 1| inch across. There were five stout pyloric caeca, four of which 

 were 3 inches long, the fifth only half as long. The intestine was 

 convoluted, and 22 inches in length. The stomach was small the 

 liver of moderate size ; the gall-bladder large. 



