1890.] SPECIES OF FISHES FROM MADEIRA. 455 



the fin was mutilated, further account of it caunot be given. The 

 rudimentar}- second dorsal is placed a little in advance of the 

 posterior end of the base of the anal, and about 16 mm. from the 

 base of the caudal. The long narrow pectorals are inserted near 

 the edge of the opercle and extend back much beyond the base of 

 the ventrals, reaching almost as far as their tips, but not quite so far 

 as the vertical from the posterior end of the base of the dorsal. 

 Compared with the length of the fish without the caudal, they are 

 as 1 to 4|-. The abdominal ventrals were mutilated in the speci- 

 men ; but the more perfect one was 15 mm. in length ; they are 

 inserted about 13 mm. behind the root of the pectorals. The anal 

 begins a little behind the posterior end of the base of the first 

 dorsal ; its base has a length of 2-5 mm. What remained of the 

 furcate caudal had a length of 19 mm. There were no spines on 

 any part of the fish. 



The scales had been nearly all removed ; the few remaining were 

 cycloid and thin. The lateral line commences at the upper angle of 

 the opercle and falls rapidly on the side of the body untU it reaches 



fkopelus langerhansi. 

 Scales of lateral line, enlarged. 



the middle of the base of the first dorsal, thence it runs along the 

 middle of the height to the base of the caudal. On one side of the 

 body, in the neighbourhood of the rudimentary dorsal, three scales 

 of the lateral line were left to show that these scales were very large, 

 transversely elliptical and imbricated. They were 6 mm. wide, or 

 about half as wide as the tail at that part. 



The single specimen of this fish that has occurred was obtained 

 from a fisherman b}^ my friend the late Prof. Dr. Langerhans, and 

 was sent by him to the Museum of Natural History at Berlin under 

 the name of Ah/sia loricata, Lowe. But from that fish (which Dr. 

 Giinther believes to be Scopelus coccoi) the fish here described 

 differs in many important respects. On comparing the above de- 

 scription with Mr. Lowe's description of Alysia, the following differ- 

 ences (along with others) will be found to exist : — 1. In this fish 

 the pectoral fins extend much beyond the roots of the ventrals ; in 

 Ahjski the ventral fins are inserted under the tips of the pectorals. 

 2. The ventrals have 8 rays ; in Alysia 6. 3. The first dorsal fin 

 begins over the root of the pectorals ; in Alysia that fin is placed 

 over the space between the ventrals and the anal. 4. The caudal fin 

 is very small in Alysia, whilst here it is longer than the height of 

 the fish. 5. In Alysia there are spines on the tail both above and 

 below ; here there are no spines. 6. In Alysia there is a single 



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