262 Transactions. — Zoology. 



maxillaiy broad, produced to beyond the vertical from the anterior margin 

 of the eye ; margin of the prseoperculura striated and finely denticulated ; 

 dorsal single, increasing in height as far as the second soft ray ; anal higher 

 than the dorsal, less than half the length of the head ; pectorals shorter than 

 the head, nearly twice as long as the ventrals, which are situated rather 

 behind them ; caudal forked. 



Above violet, passing into white below ; vertical fins violet at the base ; a 

 spot of dark violet in the axils of the pectorals ; iris yellowish. 



Wellington, 6th May, 1872. 



This fish difiers from the genus Ditremaj as characterized by Dr. Giinther, 

 in having teeth on the palate and a band instead of a single row on each jaw, 

 but I do not think that this difference is sufficient to warrant a new genns 

 being established for it. From Platystethus it differs both in having teeth on 

 the palate, and in the dorsal fin. 



It is said to be often mistaken for the warehou [Neptomenus hrama), but 

 the stronger dorsal spines> and the shorter pectoral fins easily distinguish it. 



37. Bovichthys variegatus, Rich. (Cat., p. 24.) 



Mr. Henry Travers brought a fine specimen of this fish from the Chatham 

 Islands, which enables me to correct the description given in the " Catalogue 

 of New Zealand Fishes," which was evidently taken from an immature 

 specimen. 



D 8-9(19; A 14. 



Length two and three-quarter times that of the head, or four and three- 

 quarter times the height of the body ; interorbital space more than half the 

 diameter of the eye ; soft dorsal as high as the body beneath ; base of the 

 spinous dorsal more than half the length of the soft ; head rather compressed ; 

 interorbital space concave, with two small longitudinal ridges; caudal slightly 

 rounded, with the rays protruding ; ventrals not reaching to the vent ; lateral 

 line with about eighty flat spines under the skin, directed alternately upward 

 and downward. 



Purplish brown, marbled with darker, and a few whitish marks on the 

 back ; rays of the soft dorsal spotted with black. 



The young, a specimen of which was also brought from the Chatham 

 Islands, has five transverse black bars on the body and tail, and two on the 

 caudal fin ; the soft dorsal also is lower. 



40. Notothenia cornucola, Rich. (Cat., p. 26.) CM. 



Specimens of this fish were brought by Mr. Henry Travers from the 

 Chatham Islands, and I also saw it last January in Dunedin. The prse- 

 operculum is concave, and the top of the head is nearly smooth. The lateral 



