FISHES. 25 



nigricans ab anteriori parte orbitce ad basin pinnae pectoralis. Ab oculis oblique descendit 

 supra pinnam pectoris per latera ad pinnam caudalem, area magna lalissima, nigra, prope 

 oculos angustior, pone pinnas pectoris maximum partem lateris occupans. Prope basin posticam 

 pinnae ani, et dorsi posterioris strigce duce e viridi jtavce, antrorsum oblique exeunt, angulos 

 acutos a latere formantes : primus angidus ad medium latus extenditur, alter dimidio brevior. 

 Cauda nigra, quae nigredo in angidum acutum antrorsum intra angulos lutescentes exten- 

 ditur. P. caudalis basis tecta corio olivaceo castaneo, striga transversa lutea inter lianc et 

 nigredinem caudae. Pinna pectoris e glauco pellucida, prope basin striga transversa miniata. 

 Aculei recumbentes plurimi in cauda: ordines tres intermedii plurimi (9-10) aculeis compositi: 

 laterales ab unico tantummodo vel altero." — Solander, 1. c. 



Parkinson's figure represents the colour as buff orange, with an oblique black stripe 

 crossing the pectoral region, and extending from the eye to the tail. The acute, black 

 chevron on the tail has green borders and lines, and the caudal is green. 



Hab. Polynesia. Sea of Borneo and China. 



NEMICHTHYS SCOLOPACEA, Richardson. 

 Plate X. Fig. 1-3. 



Of this apparently novel form I can give but an imperfect account. There is only a 

 single specimen which I am unwilling to mutilate by dissection, and from its shape, it cannot 

 be examined otherwise by a microscope, while its parts are too minute to be readily seen by 

 the aid of a common eye-glass. 



Its general form is thread-like, more slender near the head, swelling out by degrees in 

 the anterior quarter of the body, and again tapering imperceptibly into the caudal extremity, 

 which is as fine as a hair. The eye is large, and is very conspicuous from its dark purplish 

 blue colour. The jaws are long and slender, and the cleft of the mouth extends back to the 

 posterior part of the eye. The length of the upper jaw seems to depend on the prolongation 

 of the premaxillaries, and the slender maxillaries lie more exteriorly at the angle of the mouth, 

 which they form, their lower ends slightly overlapping the limbs of the mandible. The interior 

 surfaces of both jaws are convex, and are entirely covered like a file with short triangular or 

 semi-lanceolate teeth, having their points inclined backwards. There appear to be about six 

 rows of these teeth on each premaxillary, and the dental surface narrows off to a mesial point 

 at the entrance of the gullet. The maxillaries are armed with three rows of similar teeth. 

 The limbs of the mandibles recede towards the angles of the mouth, so as to receive the 

 mesial dental plate of the upper jaw between them, the maxillaries lying exterior to both. 

 There is no visible tongue. Nine or ten gill-rays, as slender as a fine hair, and curved like 

 the ghl-rays of a Muraena, support the branchiostegous membrane. A narrow space beneath 

 divides the gill-openings, which reach upwards to about half the height of the head. The 

 anus is placed between the middles of the small pectorals, and is with great difficulty detected. 



