KEUPER OF WARWICK AND NOTTINGHAM. 



539 



beds of the same Upper Keuper age as those which have now 

 yielded the specimens above described. To neither of these Triassic 

 fishes can the Shrewley specimens be referred. In the form and 

 position of the fins the Shrewley specimens agree with Semionotus ; 

 but with such' imperfect material, more especially the absence of 

 information as to the nature of the head, the generic affinities of 

 this fish must be uncertain, and I am unable to find any described 

 species with which it will agree. Amongst the forms described by 

 Agassiz, Semionotus striatus, from the Lias of Seefeld*, is perhaps the 

 nearest to our fossil : but besides being mnch larger, this has all the 

 scales of a more uniform size. In this latter particular S. Nils- 

 sonif is more like, but in other respects it is even further removed 

 from, our specimens. Sir Philip Egerton described three species 

 of Semionotus from beds, said to be of Liassic age, at Castella- 

 mare + ; but the descriptions of these are sufficient to show 

 that they are not the same as the Shrewley Triassic fishes. 



If it should be thought desirable to have a name for such rare 

 British fossils, it is suggested that the species be called after its 

 discoverer, Semionotus Brodiei. 



Mr. E. Wilson, at the British Association Meeting at York §, 

 called attention to the discovery of fossil fishes in Keuper beds at 

 Nottingham. In the abstract of this paper it is said that " The 

 specimens he obtained have been examined by several competent 

 authorities ; but, unfortunately, their state of preservation is so bad 

 that nothing certain can be made out as to their precise zoological 

 affinities. Dr. Traquair, however, believes that they probably 

 belong to some species, new or old, of the genus Semionotus" No 

 further account seems to have been published ; but Mr. Wilson has 

 been good enough to let me see these specimens. A few of his 

 best examples were presented to the Nottingham University College 

 Museum ; and through the courtesy of the museum authorities and 

 of the Curator, Mr. J. W. Carr, I have had the opportunity of 

 examining these also. The number of fishes in this deposit must 

 have been very great, as will be gathered from the notes by 

 Mr. Wilson (p. 542). Many of these have the scales well preserved ; 

 but unfortunately none give any satisfactory clue to the form of the 

 body. One of the most perfect is on a small slab belonging to the 

 Nottingham Museum, and is marked No. 1. In size, as in other 

 respects, this agrees fairly well with the Shrewley fishes ; it is 

 lying partly on its back, so as to show both the ventral fins and 

 above them the dorsal fin ; the tail is twisted round, so that its 

 upper border is now turned downwards. The position of the head 

 is indicated by some irregular bony plates ; but its form is uncertain. 

 The moderately heterocercal tail and the position of the dorsal and 

 ventral fins agree with Semionotus, and possibly the fish may belong 

 to the same species as those discovered by the Rev. P. B. Brodie. 

 The dorsal fin-rays which are preserved are entire and not articu- 

 lated, as in the Shrewley specimen ; it may be, however, that these 



* ' Poissons Fossiles,' vol. ii. p. 231. f Loc. cit. p. 229. 



\ Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. p. 183 (1843). § Eep. 1881, p. 637. 



