204 Transactions. — Zoology . 



Eye very large and round, iris yellow, pupil bluish-black. In colour, the 

 back is of an indigo hue shaded down into the brilliant silvery sheen of the 

 sides and belly ; dorsal and caudal fins dark ; pectoral, ventral, and anal 

 fins light olive yellow. 



Dimensions. — Total length, 4^ in. ; depth, -|§; head 1^; eye, r 2 ^ ; 

 least depth of tail, ^. 



Fin rap.— J), 16 ; P, 18 ; V, 9 ; A, 22 ; C, 21-f ; longest ray, tf ; shortest, 



TO" 



in. 



Length of fins.— D, U ; P, A ; V, A ; A, i 



1CT ' * > TTT ? X1 > To *"• 



Branchiostegal rays, 6. Scales. — L. lat. 55 ; L. trans. 15. 



Teeth. — The teeth in this specimen were scarcely perceptible to the touch 

 and very minute. 



On examining the viscera I found a thin silvery lobe 2 inches long, 

 which I take to be the air-bladder. It was remarkably like the lobe of the 

 Scotch herring, but the fish was rather old when opened. 



Specimen No. 2. — This is a female from the same locality as the male 

 and obtained at the same time. 



Dimensions. — Total length, 4^5- in.; depth, -^fa ; head, ^j. 



Fin rays.—D, 18 ; P, 17 ; V, 8 ; A, 17 (injured) ; C, 22-f . 



Branchiostegal rays, 6. 



Vertebra, 56. 



Teeth. — Very minute, but perceptible to touch on mandible, intermaxil- 

 lary, and tongue. 



Under the microscope four or five teeth were plainly seen on the inter- 

 maxillary, with some rudimentary ones. On mandible a few were seen 

 very distinctly, one of the largest being a perfect cone, broad at base, clear 

 and transparent, and about -g-Q 1 ^ of an inch long. I also could make out 

 six or seven others on same bone, but not so shapely and of irregular sizes. 



The ova of this female, in two lobes each l£ inch long, were well 

 developed. So light were they that in placing one lobe into fresh water 

 it floated, and sunk very slowly when wetted all over its surface afterwards. 

 No individual ovum was visible to the unassisted eye, but under the micro- 

 scope the ova appeared to have an irregular pentagonal out- 

 line, covering an interior circular core full of cells. The .^5^(© 



space between core and outer covering also held some cells, ' Vi'^Fr 

 but not so closely packed as in the core, while all the ova C7 

 were surrounded by a jelly-like mass of fluid full of free cells. Ova of Clupea 

 The diameter of each egg was about the j-g-^ part of an inch, sprattus x 1550. 

 This beautiful little silvery fish is mentioned by Dr. Hector as having 

 been found in Foveaux Straits and near Wellington in 1872 (see Cat. N.Z. 

 Fishes, p. 133). A fishmonger in Dunedin remembers it being in the 



