A. Smith Woodicard — Neio Miocene Fish from Malta. 357 



reveals a divergence from all the forms of Holocentriim as yet known. 

 Only one extinct species appears to have been hitherto described, 

 namely, the little H. macrocephalum, de Blainv. [=.11. pygmceimi, Ag.), 

 from the Eocene of Monte Bolca, near Verona. This is readily 

 distinguished by its more elongated shape, relatively smaller scales, 

 and the presence of a large spine in advance of the soft rays in the 

 posterior division of the dorsal fin. Twenty-four of the twenty-six 

 recent species enumerated by Dr. Gtinther ^ are also separated, among 

 other characters, by the greater elongation of the body and the 

 relatively smaller size of the scales ; and the remaining two short- 

 bodied types — H. sinnosum and H. retrospinis, from West Indian 

 seas — though very similar in proportions, and apparently with a 

 corresponding opercular armature, have much more strongly serrated 

 scales, and are of considerably smaller dimensions. It is proposed 

 accordingly to designate the Maltese species if. melitense. 



In conclusion, it may be of value to append a list of the fossil 

 Berycidas hitherto described. Since the earlier works, numerous 

 emendations and additions have been made to our knowledge of the 

 subject, and some genera and species at first supposed to be rightly 

 placed with this family, are now known to be truly referable to 

 other groups. The determinations here enumerated are such as are 

 adopted in the latest memoirs, and to each species is added the name 

 of the formation and country or district whence the type-specimen 

 was obtained. 



AcROGASTEE, Agassiz. 



brevicostatiis, v. der Marck, Palseontogr. vol. xi. p. 24, pi. 7, fig. 2. 



Cretaceous, "Westphalia. 



miniitus, v. der Marck, ibid. p. 23, pi. 7, fig. 1. Cretaceous, "Westphalia. 



■ ■ parvus, Ag., Rech. Poiss. Foss. vol. iv. p. 134, pi. 17, fig. 2. "W. v. der 



Marck, Palteontogr. vol. xi. p. 23. Cretaceous, "Westphalia. 

 Bertcopsis, Dixon. 



elegans, Dixon, Geol. and Foss. Sussex (1850), p. 372, pi. 35, fig. 8. 



Cretaceous, England. 

 Berys, Cuvier. 



dalmaticus, Bassani (Steindachner), Deukschr. Math.-Naturw, CI. kais. 



Akad. "Wiss., vol. 45 (1882), p. 70. Originally described in error as 

 obtained from the Isle of Lesina, under the name of B. lesinensis, 

 Steind., Sitzb. kais. Akad. "Wiss. vol. 47 (1863), pt. 1, p. 128, pi. 1. 

 fig. 1. Cretaceous, Dalmatia. 



dinolepidotus, Fischer de Waldheim, Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, 1841. 



p. 465, pi. 8. Cretaceous, Eussia. 



insculptus, Cope, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 1869, p. 240 ; and "Vert. Cret. 



Form. "West," 1875, pi. 52, fig. 4. Cretaceous, United States. 



lewesiensis : Zeus lewesiensis, Mantell, Geol. Sussex, 1822, p. 234, pis. 35, 



36. J3ert/x ornatus, Ag. op. cit. iv. p. 115, pi. 14ff ; pi. lU, figs. 1 

 and 2 ; pi. 14c, figs. 1-6 ; pi. 14<^. Also Dixon, op. cit. p. 371, pi. 36, 

 fig. 3 ; pi. 34, figs. 1, 4 and 5. Cretaceous, England. 



microcephalus, Ag. op. cit. iv. p. 119, pi. 14i^, figs. 3-6; pi. 14c, fig. 10. 



Dixon, op. cit. p. 372, pi. 34, fig. 3. Cretaceous, England. 



• ovalis, J. W. Davis, Trans. Eoy. Dublin Soc. [2] vol. iii. 1887, p. 508, 



pi. 27, fig. 4. Cretaceous, Lebanon. 



radians, Ag. op. cit. iv. p. 118, pi. lib, fig. 7 ; pi. He. figs. 7-9. Dixon, 



op. cit. p. 371, pi. 36, fig. 4. Cretaceous, England. 



subovatus, Bassani, Deukschr. Math.-Naturw. CI. kais. Akad. "Wiss. vol. 45 



(1882), p. 34, pi. 8, fig. 4. Cretaceous, Isle of Lesina, Dalmatia. 



1 A. Giinther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. vol. 1. pp. 28-50. 



