Masini eile Bee dida dila. 165 
The extraordinary protractile mouth and small teeth of this fish are sug- 
gestive of the habit of passing through shoals of minute fish-food with the 
mouth drawn out so as to catch large quantities. 
Professor Parker has a mounted specimen in the Otago Museum. 
Heferences.—Günther's Study of Fishes, p. 451; Cat. N.Z. Fishes, pp. 
19 and 112; Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. vii., p. 247, and vol. ix. p. 465. 
Family Traci. 
Leptoscopus angusticeps, Hutton, var? Or, 
Leptoscopus canis, n. 8. PI. xiy., fig. 4. 
D..923; P. 21: V. 6; Ac 881 C, 14 ;, Br. 6, 
A specimen of this fish caught off Purakanui was sent me by Mr. A. K. 
Smith, of Prince's Street, Dunedin, as a new fish, on May 6th, 1884. Closely 
allied species are common enough in our fish shops. It bears a close 
resemblance to L. angusticeps, but differs in having a more pointed snout ; 
the teeth are cardiform and in two rows in the jaws, the intermaxillary 
besides having two groups of canine-like teeth or fangs. Eyes nearly 
vertical. The first four anterior dorsal rays are only half as long as the 
other rays. The caudal fin has five more rays; and it differs from L. 
robsonii chiefly in the interorbital space being broad and in the length being 
eight times the height of body. 
In form the trunk is long and cylindrieal; head one-fourth of length 
without the caudal, depth of body one-eighth; one continuous dorsal fin 
from nearly opposite middle of pectoral to near the caudal, in length exactly 
one-half total length. Pectoral large broad and ovate; ventral jugular sup- 
ported on six rays; anal continuous from nearly a third of pectoral from 
origin to opposite posterior end of dorsal, and it is five-ninths total length 
of fish. All the fins are soft-rayed excepting one or two spines at origin of 
each. The gill-covers, the sub-operculum in particular, are soft. Eyes 
small and on top of head, nearly vertieal; interorbital space flat and broad, 
outline depressed. Cleft of mouth vertical, lower longer than upper jaw 
and projecting. Iutermaxillary extends round whole of upper side of ` 
mouth, the central plate or process flat, pointed, half-inch long and fitting 
space between the nasal bones. Maxillary is half length of intermaxillary, 
superior and with a triangular or curved free end pointing downwards. 
Both bones are connected by a thin transparent diaphragm and form a very 
protractile upper jaw. Teeth cardiform on mandible and maxillary, small 
and sharp, with two groups of long canines on the intermaxillary, a few teeth 
on palatines, none on vomer or tongue and no oral filament, no humeral 
spine. In colour olive-green on back and head with numerous small dark 
spots particularly on anterior part of back, belly white. The sides are 
further marked by light transverse bands which seem to be coincident with 
