THE FISHES OF FUNAFUTI. 



(SUPPLEMENT.) 

 BY EDGAR R. WAITE, F.L.S., Zoologist. 



WHEN Mr. H. E. Finckh was about to leave for Funafuti in 

 order to study living corals, it was suggested that he should 

 collect objects of marine life for the Museum. In order the better 

 to know our requirements, he interviewed my colleagues and 

 myself ; among other matters I especially impressed upon Mr. 

 Finckh the desirability of obtaining the " Palu " mentioned in my 

 report on the Fishes (pp. 199 201) as frequenting deep water in 

 the neighbourhood of the coral atolls. 



It was with considerable satisfaction therefore that on the 

 return of the expedition, we learned that a "Palu" had been 

 obtained. By the kind offices of the Local Funafuti Committee 

 of the Royal Society, the specimen passed into the possession of 

 the Trustees and has been entrusted to me for determination ; it 

 proves to be of most exceptional interest. 



Owing to the large size of the fish and the difficulty of preserv- 

 ing it, it was cut into three pieces ; an unfortunate proceeding, 

 but one which does not interfere with its recognition. It proves 

 to be as follows : 



GEMPYLID^l. 



RUVETTUS, COCCO, 

 RUVETTUS PRETIOSUS, CoCCO. 



Ruvettus preiiosus, Cocco, Giorn. Sci. Sicil., xlii., 1829, p. 21 ; 



Goode and Bean, Oceanic Ichth., U.S. Nat. Mus. Sp. Bull. 



No. 2., 1895, p. 196, pi. Ivii., fig. 210. 



This is a North Atlantic form and the only member of the 

 genus. On the eastern side of the Atlantic basin it ranges from 

 the Canary Islands to Portugal and is found at several stations in 

 the Mediterranean : on the American coast it is common off Cuba 

 and two examples have been taken east of New York. It is 

 therefore distributed in the North Atlantic in twenty-five degrees 

 of latitude, roughly speaking from 20 to 45 N. Its extreme 

 eastern station appears to be Spalatro in the Adriatic 16 K, 

 and its western limit Cuba 85 W ; thus it extends over one 

 hundred degrees of longitude. 



