6990 Fishes. ^ 



the Ophidium Glesne of Ascanius, in the 'Copenhagen Memoirs' for 

 1776, as also with the Gymnetrus Banksii of Cuvier and Valenciennes, 

 * Poissons,' tome x. p. 365 ; with the Regalecus Banksii of Richard- 

 son, in the ' Second Supplement to Yarrell's British Fishes ' ; and 

 perhaps also with the Gymnetrus Grillii of Linroth, described 

 in 1798. 



Sir John Richardson seems to regard the genera Gymnetrus and 

 Regalecus as identical, and gives the latter the preference on the 

 ground of priority. Cuvier and Valenciennes, however, retain the 

 more classically-derived word Gymnetrus, rejecting Regalecus, a 

 Norse-latin compound signifying the " king of the herrings," on account 

 of its barbarity. I think the views of these naturalists may be met 

 by adopting both genera, treating the species Hawkenii as the type of 

 Gymnetrus, and Banksii as the type of Regalecus, more especially as 

 Sir John Richardson's characters of Regalecus, now immediately to 

 be quoted, agree minutely with Banksii, but by no means with 

 Hawkenii. 



Regalecus. — "Greatly compressed and elongated sword-shaped 

 fishes. Teeth minute or none. Dorsal fin rising on the occiput like 

 a plume. Caudal said to be continuous with the dorsal, and to 

 embrace the point of the tail, but seldom seen entire, and of doubtful 

 form in most species ; ventrals uuiradiate and very long, edged with 

 membrane which expands at the end. Branchiostegals seven. A 

 very long slender tapering stomach, of which three-fourths is coecal ; 

 pancreatic coeca simple and very numerous. Scales microscopical in 

 the nacry epidermis, also scattered osteoid tubercles on the skin." 



A great number of individuals referrible to this genus have been 

 taken at different times in the British seas, and I think it is commonly 

 accepted that they constitute but a single species : of this, however, 

 there is no means of judging with any degree of precision. All the 

 specimens appear immature and all imperfect ; they vary extremelj'^ 

 in length, the shortest I recollect having been recorded in the 

 ' Zoologist,' measuring twelve feet, and the longest twenty-four feet, 

 and their fin-rays, as in the minnow fry, have not acquired that 

 solidity which is the character of adult age. These juveniles clearly 

 indicate the existence of some monster denizens of the deep which 

 have not yet gladdened the eyes of the scientific. The best descrip- 

 tion of any individual specimen I have seen is that by Messrs. 

 Hancock and Embleton, read before the Tyneside Naturalists' Club, 

 and published in the * Annals of Natural History' for July, 1849. 

 The following abridged extracts from this description are reprinted 



