1889.] FISH FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. 331 



berg, director of the Zoological Institute of the Messina University, 

 to whom I owe many other ichthyological rarities ; and as a mark of 

 my gratitude and esteem I have thought proper to give his name to 

 so singular a species, which is evidently as yet undescribed. These 

 specimens are now in the Central Collection of Italian Vertebrata in 

 the Royal Zoological Museum at Florence. As they present differences 

 in size and in other respects, I shall proceed to describe them 

 briefly. 



My smallest specimen (Plate XXXIV. fig. 2) measures 28| milli- 

 metres in total length ; it was caught on the 10th of May, 1887. It is 

 evidently much younger than the other two ; the two dorsals are yet 

 united and the larval median fin extends as a crest to the head ; the 

 caudal is, however, quite distinct and remarkable for its lanceolate 

 form. The abdominal cone is comparatively smaller than in the two 

 older specimens, and a membrane unites its hinder portion to the 

 anal fin. The lobe of the pectorals is very distinct, and the rays look 

 thickened at their distal ends. The ventrals have the characteristic 

 form and development. The colour of the body is yellowish white 

 (in alcohol) ; eight very distinct broad black bands cross the body 

 transversely, being slightly oblique : the first occupies the base of the 

 abdominal cone, the last the root of the tail ; the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 

 7th are continued as a black blotch on the base of the anal fin ; the 

 ventral paddles are tipped and edged with black, the ray is, however, 

 white ; otherwise the fins are colourless. Looking with a lens, these 

 black bands and blotches result in an accumulation of dark points or 

 chromatophores ; this is the case also in the other specimens. 



The second specimen, according to size and age, measures 68 milli- 

 metres in total length ; it is figured slightly enlarged (Plate XXXIV. 

 fiw. 3). It wascapturedalive near the surface in the harbour of Messina 

 on the 2nd of June, 1888. It bears considerable resemblance to the 

 first specimen described, but has lost some of the larval characters 

 above noted ; all the median fins are well distinct, the caudal has an 

 oval contour ; but the abdominal cone, covered with a slightly 

 silvery skin, shows still a posterior membranous fringe which 

 partially unites it with the anal fin. The pores on the head and 

 nape are very distinct. In colour this specimen is also very similar 

 to the first one ; the black transverse bands are very well marked, 

 but they are slightly fainter and the first one does not extend to the 

 abdominal cone, which is well developed. Ten very distinct black 

 blotches extend along the base of the anal fin and three along the 

 caudal end of the second dorsal ; three additional blotches are on 

 the back between the 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, and 6th and 7th 

 transverse bands. 



The third specimen has the aspect of an adult. It was caught also 

 near the surface at the entrance to the harbour of Messina at the end 

 of April 1884. It measures 78 millimetres in total length; head 16 

 millimetres ; from nape to apex of abdominal cone 27 miUimetres ; 

 height of body immediately behind the abdominal cone 12 millimetres. 

 I have figured it once and a half the natural size (Plate XXXIV. 

 fig. 4). It differs especially in colour from the two younger and 



