THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERYEfi. 



NOVEMBER, 1865. 



FISHES OBSERVED AT NICE, 1865.— THE CHIMiERA 

 AND THE ALEPOCEPHALUS. 



BY EICHAED DEAKIN, M.D. 

 (With a Coloured Plate.) 



Couch, in his History of the Fishes of the British Isles, vol. i., 

 p. 149, says of the G him ere arctique, Lacep., or Ohimcera mon- 

 strosa, Linn., that ' ' it is not the least remarkable portion of 

 the history of this fish, that while its most chosen residence is 

 in the depths of the Polar seas, it is also found in the Me- 

 diterranean, -where it has been caught so frequently as to have 

 received the familiar name of Cat from the fishermen of Nice. 

 In explanation of this we can only suppose that in some former 

 distribution of the temperature of our world, this fish inha- 

 bited other regions than those in which it is at present found ; 

 and that the extreme depths of the Mediterranean Sea con- 

 tinue to afford it all the requisite conveniences for life and 

 propagation that are now also found, and more generally, in the 

 more northern regions." 



The species here referred to is occasionally caught at all 

 periods of the year in the Bay of Nice, showing that in its 

 deep marine valleys the fish finds a congenial place for its 

 dwelling and propagation. It is called by Risso Ohimcera 

 Mediterranea, and it differs in so many particulars from the 

 representation of the G. arctiqua in Guvier's Regne Animal, as 

 to appear to be a different species, so that the illustrations and 

 description which I made in January last from fresh-caught 

 specimens in the Bay of Nice may be useful to some of the 

 readers of the Intellectual Obseevee. 



The specimen selected of the GhimoBra Mediterranea, Risso, 

 Fig. 1, is of a medium size, and measures from the end of the 

 snout to the end of the tail thirty inches, but it is not unfre- 



VOL. VIII. — NO. IV. B 



