PankER.— On a Specimen of the Great Ribbon Fish. 287 
15/190; that is, there are 205 rays in all, the first 15 being lengthened to 
form a crest, and, in accordance with the usual method of counting, being 
considered as the first dorsal, the remaining 190 forming the second. 
In the various descriptions and figures to which reference has been 
made there is great discrepancy with regard to the number and character 
of the rays forming this crest or anterior dorsal fin. 
Hancock and Embleton say of R. banksii (see pl. xxiv., fig. 8) :—'* The ante- 
rior part of the fin, more prominent than the rest, is composed of twelve 
rays, which were stated by the captors to have been 12 or 14 inches in 
length when the fish was taken, and to be each furnished with a mem- 
branous expansion on its posterior edge, increasing in width upwards some- 
thing like a peacock’s feather. 
* The first ray is a pretty strong spine arising just within the frontal 
curve, the three next are very slender, and much closer together than the 
rest, and when we first saw the fish, united for 4 or 5 inches (their length 
at that time) by a membrane; the next is equally slender with the pre- 
ceding, but rather farther apart; the three or four after this are nearly as 
strong as the first, the rest diminish in strength and length, and become 
uniform with the rays of the dorsal fin. 
** It is difficult for us to say whether the twelve front rays constituted a 
detached crest or formed merely the anterior continuation of the dorsal fin, 
though after careful and repeated examinations we found shreds of mem- 
brane in each interval between them, and their bases also were connected 
with a continuous membrane. In the interval between the twelfth and 
thirteenth rays the remains of a membrane were found connecting the 
bases of these rays, and their shafts were ragged and woolly-looking, as if 
a membrane had been torn off from them. We are, therefore, inclined to 
conclude that the crest was really a continuation of the dorsal fin and not a 
separate structure, though it is probable enough that the ends of its rays 
may have been for some distance free and even furnished with a membrane 
on their posterior margin widening at the top, giving them the appearance 
of peacock’s feathers, as asserted by the fishermen. This probability is 
heightened by the fact of the head of the Gymnetrus [Regalecus] from the 
Cornish coast being provided with two long rays having broad membranous 
expansions at their ends, which would justify a casual observer in com- 
paring them in form to the above feathers. It is not unlikely besides that 
the second, third, fourth, and fifth rays, on account of their resemblance in 
delicacy to the ordinary fin rays, may have terminated differently to the 
rest, The rays having been broken we cannot say of ourselves whether 
they are uniform in size [i.e. length] or not; but by what we have learnt 
by questioning those who saw the fish, we conclude that the middle rays 
