258 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [Proc. 3D Ser. 



and Bean, with other writers, describe and figure the dorsal 

 rays as uniform in character throughout, decreasing grad- 

 ually in length from the middle of the body toward either 

 end. 



Examination of the recently acquired specimen shows 

 that the dorsal fin is composed throughout of long slender 

 rays, each of which becomes very delicate and thread- 

 like distally. The basal part of each is comparatively strong 

 and stiff, and passes abruptly into the delicate terminal por- 

 tion. This division of each ray into two portions is most 

 strikingly shown along the posterior part of the back, be- 

 tween the middle point and the slender part of the tail. It 

 thus often happens that when the dorsal membrane is dried 

 down, or unduly hardened by the preservative, the distal 

 portions of the rays in this region become detached from 

 the basal spine-like portions, while this does not occur ante- 

 riorly, or along the slender part of the tail. The specimen 

 figured by Dr. Jordan, above referred to, has been returned 

 to me for re-examination, through the great kindness of Mr. 

 John Fannin, Curator of the Provincial Museum, Victoria, 

 British Columbia. The basal parts of the posterior rays 

 are for the most part detached from the filamentous ends, 

 but the latter can still be detected, imbedded in the hardened 

 membrane, and an occasional ray in the " spinous " area has 

 the terminal portion still connected with the base. A similar 

 specimen from the Atlantic shows the same structure. It 

 is thus apparent that in the structure of the dorsal fin Ne- 

 michthys does not differ essentially from related genera. 



In our specimen from the Gulf of Georgia, the jaws are 

 widely recurved at tip, the upper jaw being two millimeters 

 longer than the lower. The teeth are minute, close-set, 

 equal, with retrorse points. They entirely cover the 

 opposed surfaces and the sides of both jaws, and are regu- 

 larly arranged in quincunx order. The toothed area on the 

 maxillary extends to opposite the posterior edge of the 

 pupil. 



The gill opening begins opposite the middle of the base 

 of the pectoral fin, and extends obliquely downward and 

 forward, the anterior (lower) ends of the two openings 



