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bean found on tlie coast of N’ortb America, as far north as New 
York. 
The great protractility of the mouth made the illustrious Cuvier 
place it in a family he had called Menidce ; but in my paper on 
the fishes of the Cape of Good Hope, written in 1861, I protested 
against this character being considered as of first importance, as 
it is to be found in sorts of almost all families. 
The species I describe here partakes of the characters of 
Ditrtma, by the large number of the anal rays, which in Oerres 
are not generally more than eight or nine. 
GEUEES MELBOUEKEWSIS. 
The height of the body is contained two and a-half times in the 
total length, without the caudal ; the eye is very large, and only 
contained two and one-third times in the length of the head, when 
the mouth is not extended ; when it is, the distance from the 
extremity of the snout to the anterior margin of the eye is a little 
less than the diameter of the orbit. The teeth are numerous and 
villiform ; there are none on the vomer or palatine. The profile 
is very convex over the eye and the snout. When the mouth is 
not extended, it is rather bent downwards. The head is con- 
tained, in this state, four times in the total length, including 
the caudal ; the operculum is entire, as is also the prseoperculum, 
and the praeorbital. The scales are large, being only thirty- 
seven or thirty-eight on the lateral line ; this line is marked by a 
succession of short, elevated, oblique lines, and is strongly curved 
near the head. The spiny portion of the dorsal is much shorter 
than the soft one ; it is formed of nine rather feeble spines ; the 
first one is shorter than the following, which are about equal, the 
posterior ones being something longer than the others. The rays 
number sixteen ; the first are about of the same length as the 
last spines, but they become rather longer as they go backwards. 
The caudal is forked ; it is formed of eighteen long rays and of 
several shorter ones on each side ; anal with three spines, rather 
stronger than those of the dorsal ; the first is the shortest, and 
the third the longest ; the rays number seventeen, the first of which 
is longer than the third spine, and the others decrease slightly 
towards the tail. The ventrals are inserted a little behind tho 
pectorals ; they are formed of a long slender spine and of five 
