220 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genus II. — Regalecus, Ascanius. 



Gymnetrus, Bl. Schneider. 



Definition as in the family, . with each ventral in the form of a single long 

 filament, which may possess a dilated extremity. Caudal fin, if present, rudimentary 

 {except in the Asiatic species). No air-bladder. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



Geographical distribution. — The Regalecus or " king of the herrings " has been 

 captured in the seas of Northern Europe, extending to the coasts of the British 

 Isles ; in the Mediterranean ; the South Atlantic ; a single example off the coast 

 of Vizagapatam in the East Indies ; New Zealand and New South Wales. 



It may be questioned if the species of this genus have not been unduly 

 multiplied, and whether the difference in the height of the body as compared 

 with its length may not be due to the influence of locality, of age, or of sex. 

 Simply regarding variations in the number of the rays of the dorsal fin as 

 indicating distinct species is rather a hazardous proceeding in a genus such as 

 Regalecus, wherein the dorsal rays being numerous, a very great latitude in the 

 number must be anticipated, even among varieties of the same species. 



1. Regalecus Banksii, Plate LXIV. 



? Gymnetrus HawJcenii, Bl. xii, p. 88, t. 425; Lacep. iii, p. 380; (Gymnetrus 

 Hawhinsii,) Bl. Schn. p. 481 ; Cuv. and Val. xii, p. 372 ; Jenyns, Brit. Yert. 

 p. 373. Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 197 ; Couch, Trans. Lin. Soc. xiv, p. 77 ; Yarrell, 

 Brit. Fish. (Ed. 2) i, p. 221, c. fig. (Ed. 3) ii, p. 302. 



Gymnetrus Banksii, Cuv. and Val. x, p. 365 ; Hancock, Trans. Tyneside Field 

 Club, i, 1849, p. 228, c. fig., Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1849, iv, p. 1, pi. i and ii ; 

 Tristram, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 147, and Ann. and Mag. xvii, p. 312 and 

 p. 390 ; Hogg, 1. c. xviii, p. 136. 



Gymnetrus — ?, Martens, in Jacob's Account of Rare Fishes, 1849, p. 10. 



Regalecus Banksii, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) ii, p. 293 ; Walker, Ann. and 

 Mag. (3) 1862, x, p. 13 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 309 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, 

 p. 176; Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 87. 



Trichiurus lepturus (part) Hoy, Trans. Linn. Soc. xi, p. 210. 



Regalecus glesne, Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 40, p. lxxxvi, fig. 358 ; White, Catal. 

 Fish. p. 40 ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1849, p. 78, and 1850, p. 52. 



Banks' oar-fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 251, pi. cxix. 



Ribbon-fish, T. Wright, Nat. Hist. Trans. North, and Durham, 1877, v, pt. iii, 

 p. 340, 



B. vi, D. d^:i!o> R n > V - L 



Length of head 12 to 16, height of body 13 in the total length. JEye — 

 5 diameters in the length of the head, and nearly 2 diameters from the end of 

 the snout. Body much compressed, its greatest thickness being nearer to the 

 ventral than to the dorsal profile. The height of the body is less opposite and 

 just behind the gill openings than it is further back, but the rise is very gradual, 

 while it gradually diminishes again in the last half of its extent. Forehead very 

 steep : snout truncated : the cleft of the mouth almost vertical, but when closed 

 the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to beneath the front edge of the 

 eye. The greatest height of the head equals its length excluding the snout. 

 The caudal termination is more difficult to make out in such examples as I have 

 seen — all but the Newcastle one being stuffed. When first examined "the 

 edge of the back behind the termination of the dorsal fin sloped rapidly 

 downwards to within an inch of the line of the belly, and then formed a rounded 

 point, which is the distal extremity of the fish. Both the upper and under edges 

 of this extremity were very thin, and the fishermen insisted that when they took 



