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THE  REV.  R.  T.  LOWE  ON  ALEPISAURUS. 
last  edition  of  the  '  R^gne  Animar,  and  placed  as  8|,n  appendix  at  the  end  of  the  8com- 
IridcB.  Without,  however,  being  aware  of  this,  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  some 
time  since,  that  the  proper  station  for  Alepisaurus  must  be  amongst  the  Scombridcs,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Gempylus  and  Thyrsites ;  and  the  alteration  of  Cuvier's  views  re- 
garding the  place  of  Lepidopus  and  Trichiurus,  since  discovered,  affords  at  once  a  satis- 
factory confirmation  of  such  a  conclusion,  and  justifies  my  original  idea  of  its  close 
affinity  with  Lepidopus. 
The  four  genera  Thyrsites,  Gempylus,  Lepidopus,  and  Trichiurus  may  be  considered 
as  forming,  with  Alepisaurus,  a  small  subordinate  but  highly  interesting  group,  con- 
necting the  Scombridee  with  the  now  expurgated  Tanioida.  The  second  adipose  dorsal 
fin  in  Alepisaurus  may  be  perhaps  a  modification  only  of  the  characteristic  spurious  fin- 
lets  of  its  family.  It  even  recalls  to  mind  the  separate  hinder  portion  of  the  dorsal  fin 
in  Histiophorus,  Cuv. ,  or  in  an  adult  Xiphias.  The  general  habit  of  the  fish  ;  its  pecu- 
liar liability  to  be  infested  with  intestinal  worms,  evinced  in  all  the  specimens  observed  ; 
the  powerful  forked  caudal  fin,  with  the  peculiar  mode  of  its  setting  on,  or  of  its  pene- 
tration by  the  tail,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  short  accessory  rays ;  and  above  all 
the  gelatinous  keeled  lateral  line,  are  all  truly  Scomhridal  characters.  It  may  be  added, 
that  the  complete  development  of  the  ventral  fins  gives  it  a  higher  claim  than  Lepidopus 
possesses  to  a  place  amongst  ScombridcB^ . 
The  engraving  is  reduced  from  a  most  carefully  executed  drawing  in  outline  of  the 
fish  while  perfectly  fresh,  the  size  of  life,  kindly  undertaken  by  my  talented  and  accom- 
plished friend  Miss  Young,  checked  by  repeated  and  scrupulously  accurate  measure- 
ments of  my  own, 
PLATE  LIX. 
Fig.  1 .  The  entire  fish. 
2.  .The  head  as  seen  from  above. 
3.  Side  view  of  the  upper  jaw,  with  the  hp  or  intermaxillary  raised  to  show  the 
palatal  teeth.  The  teeth  represented  in  dotted  outline  are  those  which  lay 
loose  among  the  integuments  of  the  palate  :  they  are  figured  in  the  position 
they  respectively  occupied  when  raised  a  little  by  the  point  of  a  knife. 
'  Since  -writing  the  above,  I  have  received  a  letter  from  my  able  and  zealous  coadjutor  Miss  Young,  dated 
Madera,  June  22,  1835,  giving  some  account  of  a  fourth  larger  but  much  broken  specimen,  also  caught  off 
Camera  de  Lobos,  which  she  has  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  since  I  left  the  island.  The  examination 
was  most  satisfactory,  tending  altogether  to  confirm  the  foregoing  supplementary  account.  She  writes:  "The 
^eeth  were  exactly  on  the  same  plan,  but  varying  a  little  in  number  from  the  former  (the  third)  specimen.  The 
first  dorsal  fin  had  forty-two  rays ;  its  shape  the  same  as  in  the  last  specimen,  high  in  front,  and  straight  to 
near  the  end.  The  ventral  fins  were  unequal  (perhaps  from  injury),  the  right  having  1  +  9,  the  left  only 
1  +  8  rays.  The  caudal  fin  was  much  broken.  The  branchiostegous  membrane  had  seven  rays  on  both  sides. 
The  gelatinous  keel  on  the  lateral  line  was  very  high  and  distinct.  The  colours  were  not  so  bright  as  in  the 
third  specimen,  though  the  present  was  quite  fresh.    In  other  respects  it  agreed  with  the  former  specimens." 
