PISHES. 
45 
had been taken out of the water, an incision was made through the parietes of the 
abdomen, and into the ventricle of the heart, where the bulb of a thermometer was 
inserted, and the belly closed up : the temperature was 86°. The thermometer being 
placed among the viscera of the abdomen, indicated the same temperature; placed 
deep in an incision made into the muscular part of the back, the quicksilver rose to 88°; 
in another part it stood at 87°. The mean temperature of the surface of the sea on the 
same day was 82°.” — C. The anatomy of this species was carefully examined, espe- 
cially as regarded the structure of its intestinal canal. 
In nearly the same latitude, 6° N., a specimen of the Sucking-fish was obtained. The 
form of the individual, as represented in a drawing by Mr. Smyth, is evidently that of 
the Echeneis Remora, L., and we do not hesitate to refer it to that species, although the 
number of pairs of lamina in its sucker are figured as only ten. But on such a point, 
in a figure by a young artist, we do not venture to propose a new species : he probably 
was not aware of the importance of precision as to numbers, and may have contented 
himself with the production of effect: the number of the rays represented in the dorsal 
and anal fins, (fifteen in the former, and thirteen in the latter,) are also probably deficient ; 
and that of the rays of the pectoral, only eight, is certainly so. But there is no 
mistaking the comparatively shortened form of the fish, and its general characters of 
fin, including the forking of the caudal. Its colours, as represented in the drawing, 
are dull dusky brown above and below, separated longitudinally on the sides and cheeks 
by light blue ; the fins are yellowish at the base, terminated by dusky brown. 
In the harbour of Rio Janeiro we find mention of the occuiTence of a species of 
Trigla. A single specimen of the Hemirliamphus Brasiliensis, Cuv., was obtained 
from the gullet of a booby ( Pelecanus Sula, L ), aud another, unnamed, was observed in the 
Cabinet of Natural History. A species of Diodon, L., and one of Tetrodon, L., were also 
seen. On the latter Mr. Collie remarks, “The air with which this last genus distends 
its belly not only erects the spines of its under surface, but also overturns the fish itself. 
If so, the armed region is in many species turned away from such fishes as might attack 
them, for the quantity of air must make them float on the surface with their comparatively 
smooth back downwards ; while at the same time the belly attracts by its whiteness, and 
is exposed to the headlong darting down of the Pelecanus Sula, several species of Larus, 
Sterna, &c.” — C. 
The journals of the navigators contain no further mention of fishes observed until the 
arrival of the vessel at the Bay of Conception, where a CallorJiynchus occurred, which 
differs, according to a drawing of it preserved by Mr. Smyth, from the species previously 
known. At Gambier Islands, several fishes were observed, designated by Mr. Collie 
as the Perea ( Chcetodon) vittata?, Perea maculata?, another Perea, and a Labrus. 
On the fishes thus designated, the loss of the drawings, and the insufficiency of the notes, 
prevent us from offering any remarks. Mr. Lay was especially delighted with the beauty 
of the fishes seen in this locality. He remarks in his journal, “The bottom of a large 
volcanic hollow, which forms a kind of bay in the middle of this group, afforded through 
the translucent water a spectacle of passing beauty: for besides divers kinds of playful 
