SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 199 
Piarece B. Fibroma. 
This was a mature female 40 cm. in total length. It 
was apparently in good condition and well nourished, 
The stomach and intestine were empty. 
There was a very conspicuous tumour, or growth, on 
the head of the fish, on the blind side. ‘The general 
appearance of the fish is shown in fig. 1, Pl. IV, and it 
will be seen that the growth lies behind the angle of the 
mouth, and over the inter- and pre-opercular bones. The 
tumour is roughly elliptical in section (section made in 
the true horizontal plane of the fish), and the diameter of 
the major axis is about 25 mm. The tumour is about 
25 mm. high (in the dorso-ventral plane of the fish. It is 
rather rough at its distal surface, as if part had been 
removed mechanically in handling the fish. It is firm 
and hard, the integument being continued over most of 
its surface. The distal extremity is ragged, apparently 
necrosed, but this, I think, is due simply to mechanical 
injury. The tumour being on its blind side, it would 
obviously become rubbed while the fish was feeding, or 
erubbing about in the sand. The growth is smooth, 
cheesy-looking, not very vascular, except at its proximal 
extremity. 
As before, a rather prolonged search was made in the 
intestine, in the tissues of the liver, kidneys, spleen, and 
in the blood, for parasites, protozoan or entozoan. 
Nothing of the kind was found, but, as in the case of the 
other fish, the preservation was very imperfect. It always 
is so in these interesting specimens! Blood parasites, for 
instance, could not possibly have been detected, even if 
they had been originally present. Entozoan parasites, or 
larvae, or other stages included, or encysted in the 
muscles, gills or skin, might have been preserved, but I 
could find no such bodies. We may conclude that the 
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