18 Sigurd Johnsen. 
The fins: — The number of rays in both specimens — 
D 22, A 18, P18, VI + 4. The anterior half of both the dorsal 
and the anal can be laid entirely down in a groove. The spine 
in the ventral fins is scallopped on the outer edge, the soft rays 
are drawn out in a fine whip-like extension, these are of double the 
length in the larger specimen than in the smaller, but as it is 
difficult to decide whether they have been damaged or not, no 
weight should perhaps be laid upon this difference. As already 
mentioned, the specimens have been so long in spirits that their 
colour has almost disappeared; the chief colour is silvery white, 
with traces of a reddish brown tinge on the membrane of 
the vertical fins and a few places on the body (the back). In 
the smaller specimen, however, > the spotted colour design, 
which is so characteristic of these forms, is very evident (v. 
drawing of Astrodermus coryphaenoides by Cuvier and Va- 
lenciennes). The spots are about 5 mm. in diameter and are 
situated as follows: — One row along the base of the dorsal fin, 
then two lateral rows, the latter along the middle-line of the body; 
below this still another longitudinal row, which is less clear on 
my specimen, and then a well-defined row along the base of 
the anal fin. 
The jaws are furnished with a row of very fine sharp teeti, 
which are rather far apart; they are seen best in the lower jaw. 
The alimentary canal presents the same picture as that of the 
Luvarus, a big stomach with large papillae, a very long intestine 
with a complicated course.') 
The scales are intact. Hertwig*) has previously given a 
description of the dermal skeleton of a young specimen of Diana 
1) In the ventricle of the smaller specimen (the entrails were removed 
from the other one) there were a good many long hairs, remains of insects, 
a few bits of plants etc.; but the contents of the intestine were not deter- 
minable. Any conclusion as to the animal’s normal food can thus hardly be 
arrived at; the things mentioned must have been swallowed when the fish 
was in the surface waters. These specimens are from Sicily, probably from 
the Strait of Messina, where fish from the depths are often driven up to 
the surface waters. The Bergen Museum has several specimens of an older 
date of Argyropelecus, Chauliodus, which were taken in the surface waters 
in that locality, and the two specimens of Astrodermus here being considered 
have most likely come from the same donor. 
2) Hertwig, Oscar: Ueber das Hautskelet der Fische. III, p. 13. i 
Taf. I, fig. 25, 27, 29. Morphologisches Jahrbuch. Bd. 7. Leipzig 1882. å 
