286 Transactions. — Zoology. 



5. Regalecus banksii, Illustrated London News, June 2, 1849, p. 384. 

 6.*] (Gray, loc. tit. : copies of two original drawings in 



7.* J { Sir J. Banks's copy of Pennant's Zoology. 



8. ,, ,, (?) (Ch/mnetrus hawkinsii), Bloch, " Naturgeschichte 



der ausloendischen Fisclie," xii., pi. 425 (copied 

 by Yarrell, op. tit., p. 302). 



9. ,, ,, Liitken, " Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den natur- 



historiske Forening " for 1881, p. 190. 



10. ,, glesne, Ascanius, " Icones Eeruni Naturaliurn," pi. 11. 

 11.* ,, ,, Schneider, " M. E. Blochii Systenia Ichthyologire," 



pi. 88 (copied by Yarrell, op. tit., p. 301). 



12. „ „ " Encyclopedic Methodique," fig. 358. 



13. ,, griliii, Lindroth, Vet. Akad. liandl., pi. 8. 



14. ,, russellii, Shaw, " General Zoology," iv., pi. 28. 

 15.* ,, pacificus, Haast, loc. tit., pi. 7. 



The specimen from which the following description is taken was cast 

 ashore at Moeraki, about 40 miles north of Dunedin, on the 14th of June. 

 It was purchased by a fisherman, who, previously to bringing it to Dunedin 

 for exhibition, cut it into four pieces for convenience of transit! After it had 

 been exhibited for two or three days I was able to secure it for the Museum. 



As the specimen was thus wantonly injured, and was moreover by no 

 means fresh when it came into my possession, it was useless to attempt to 

 stuff it, and I decided instead to have the skeleton prepared : of this I hope, 

 as very little seems to be known of it, to publish a detailed description. In 

 the present communication I propose to give a general description of the 

 fish with especial reference to one or two points left more or less uncertain 

 by other observers. 



All the species of Regalecus are distinguished by their great length in 

 proportion to their height and thickness, most of them being from 8 to 18 

 feet long, 6-15 inches high, and not more than 2 or 3 inches thick. In the 

 species recorded up to the present time the proportion between height and 

 length varies from 1 : 24 (R. telum) to 1 : 11 (i2. pacificus) : in the Moeraki 

 specimen this proportion is as 1 : 10, the total length being 12^ feet, and 

 the greatest height 15*25 inches, so that the fish is higher in proportion to 

 its length than any former specimen. 



The length of the head varies from T \jth of the total length (R. gladius 

 and pacificus) to ^th (R. banksii) ; in my specimen the head is ^th the 

 length of the whole body, being 9 inches long with the jaws retracted. 



In correspondence with the great length of the fish, the number of rays 

 in the continuous dorsal fin is very considerable : it varies from 134 (8/126) 

 in R. glesne to 406 in R. griliii. In the present specimen the number is 



