WOODWARD : FOSSIL FISHES OF THE UPPER LIAS OF WHITBY. 27 
Type : Fishes ; Whitby Museum. 
The earhest refereuce to this small species of Leptolepis occurs 
in the first edition of Martin Simpson's " Fossils of the Yorkshire 
Lias" (p. 19), where it is stated to be "found in considerable num- 
bers in the larger lenticular nodules, a little above the jet rock, in 
the Upper Lias. Contrary to what occurs in most of our fishes, the 
external covering has perished, and the head, fins, and bones only 
have been preserved. I am not aware," says Simpson, " to what 
particular genus it ought to be referred, but we may name it specifi- 
cally — Saltviciensis." 
The generic position of the fish was correctly determined in 
1876 by Prof. J. F, Blake {loc. cit.), who published a figure and the 
following brief description : — 
" The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are about the same size, 
and are at equal distances apart. The dorsal is rather large, and is 
situated opposite the interval between the anal and ventral. The 
vertebral column is ossified, and the tail homocercal. The head is 
small and the teeth are comparatively large, and lie apparently in 
clumps. Length 4 in. by | in." 
In 1884, this description was merely quoted by Simpson in the 
second edition of his work ; and the brief attempt at a diagnosis in 
the recently published Part IH. of the British Museum Catalogue of 
Fossil Fishes is still insufficient for purposes of comparison. The 
fish seems to have been common, so that numerous specimens are 
available for study in the Yorkshire Museums and the British 
Museum ; and the latter collection is so extensive that it is unneces- 
sary to look elsewhere for fossils illustrating the essential characters of 
the species. Unfortunately, however, very few examples are com- 
plete and sufficiently undisturbed to show the general proportions of 
the fish. The two specimens represented of the natural size in pi. 
iii. figs. 1, 2, are thus almost unique. 
The first of these fishes measures nearly 0*065m. in length, and 
the head with opercular apparatus occupies somewhat less than one- 
quarter of the whole. The form of the trunk is indicated by remains 
of the squamation ; the width of the caudal pedicle being thus shown 
to equal half the maximum depth of the abdominal region, which is 
