66 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



and there is a rounded lobe about midway between this and the upper angle of the operculum. 

 The preoperculum is broad below, but its upper limb, rising at a right angle, becomes gra- 

 dually narrower. Its whole free edge, that of the interoperculum, and of the suboperculum 

 anteriorly, are finely denticulated, and the teeth, being the tips of very short marginal ridges, 

 are very conspicuous in the dried specimen. The anterior border of the operculum, to the 

 width of half an inch, is scaleless and marked with fine vertical streaks : the under margin of 

 the bone is concealed by scales, and there is a deep rounded notch on its posterior margin 

 which is also covered by membrane and scales, but a rounded lobe above the notch, and 

 another below, are more evident from their edges being finely ridged and somewhat denticu- 

 lated : the tip of the suboperculum is closely applied to the lower lobe and passes it a little. 

 The bones lining the posterior edge of the gill-opening are scaleless and have smooth edges : 

 the humeral bone is remarkably large and cavernous, the cavities occupied by a net-work of 

 fibres. There are seven branchiostegous rays, all somewhat flattened ; the first ray is one 

 inch and a half long, the last one measures above four inches. 



Scales. — The whole head except the lips, intermaxillaries, labials, branchiostegous mem- 

 brane, and anterior border of the operculum, is scaly, the scales varying much in size, small 

 and large being crowded together. The scales of the body are also unequal in size, though 

 mostly very large and strong, particularly on the sides, where their general form is that of a 

 square or rectangle, with the exterior side a little convex, and the two outer corners rounded 

 off: many are somewhat oblique, the lower side being the longest. The smallest scales, 

 excepting those on the fins, are on the humeral bone, and next those on the top of the head 

 and before the dorsal. There are fifty-three or fifty-four scales on the lateral line, exclusive 

 of fourteen or fifteen very small ones on the base of the caudal ; and about twenty-eight 

 in a vertical row behind the pectorals, eight of which are above the lateral line. A scale 

 taken from under the posterior third of the first dorsal and beneath the lateral line, is seven 

 lines long by eight and a half wide, and is marked with about ten furrows, which converge 

 towards the centre, but do not meet : the corresponding crenatures are not prominent, the 

 basal edge being nearly a straight line : the middle third of the exterior slightly convex edge 

 is crowded with fine ridges, visible under the lens, and apparently jointed, but the whole edge 

 appears smooth to the naked eye and to the touch. A linear inch measured lengthwise on 

 the sides, includes from three to six scales, according to the place that is chosen. The lateral 

 line follows the curve of the back at the distance of one-third of the height of the body, until 

 it comes opposite to the middle of the anal, whence it runs in a straight line through the 

 centre of the tail, and is continued between the middle rays of the caudal for more than half 

 the length of that fin. It is formed by a small tubular ridge which divides, in a radiated 

 manner, on the outer border of the scale, into several irregular winding branchlets. The 

 anus is at the commencement of the posterior third of the fish excluding the caudal. 



Fins.— Br. 7; P. 15; V. 1/5; D. 9/ 1/18; A. 1/7; C. 17|. 



The pectorals taper to a point and are considerably longer than the ventrals, or than the 

 rays of any of the other fins. The ventrals are attached a little farther back than the pec- 

 torals, their upper ray being opposite to the under one of the latter, or nearly under the fourth 



