318 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
But when a curator of a public museum has to name this fish he wonders 
whether he should adopt the name that at the present is accepted by the 
most recent writer on the fauna, or whether he should cling to the old 
well-known name. 
Precisely analogous examples occur, of course, in other groups—for 
instance, the Mollusca. In Suter’s Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca 
we meet with many names, specific and generic, that he had not used in 
his previous writings ; and even these names occurring in the Manual are 
not allowed to pass uncriticized by other workers in the same group. 
There is no finality in this matter, and the wretched curator of a 
museum would find his time fully occupied in his endeavours to keep 
pace with all the alterations if he were to attempt to write new labels for 
every fluctuation in opinion of the systematists. 
Preliminary Notice of the Occurrence of a Rare Fish, Luvarus 
imperialism stranded at Motutara, near Auckland, in December, 
1921 , by L. T. Griffin, F.Z.S., Auckland Museum. 
Just prior to the last Christmas holidays information was received that 
a strange fish of large size and remarkable appearance, quite unknown 
to the settlers and Maoris of the district, had been stranded at the foot 
of the cliffs bounding the property of Sir Edwin Mitchelson at Motutara. 
Being unable to visit the locality myself, I got into telephonic communica¬ 
tion with Mr. N. Mitchelson, who at once went to the beach to make 
investigations, and, if possible, to secure the specimen for the Auckland 
Museum. When he arrived at the place he found that a large party of 
Christmas holiday campers had already been at work upon the specimen 
with sheath-knives and had almost completely destroyed it, large portions 
having been hacked off and carried away, some to be used for bait, and 
others with the view of extracting oil from the flesh. From what remained 
Mr. Mitchelson was able to make a rough sketch of the shape of the fish, 
take a few measurements, and note its colour and some of its principal ex¬ 
ternal characters. The rest he placed in safety, with the view to preserve 
the skeleton. Since then I have received Mr. Mitchelson’s sketch and 
notes ; and, somewhat later, he, with the assistance of Mr. A. W. B. Powell, 
collected the greater part of the skeleton. Much of this is fragmentary, 
but sufficient material and data have been obtained to prove beyond doubt 
that the fish belongs to the extremely rare genus Luvarus. But for the 
regrettable action of a number of idle and irresponsible persons, this wonder¬ 
ful fish would have been added to the collections of the Auckland Museum. 
This fish was originally described from a specimen, 5 ft. long, seen by 
Rafinesque at Solanto, Sicily, in 1808, and has since been observed at 
Nice, in the Adriatic, and at Malta, Elba, and Cette. Lowe observed both 
young and old at Madeira, and Steindachner found it on the coast of Spain. 
Two were stranded on the Cornish coast in 1866, and from one of these, 
45 in. long, Day made an excellent figure for his Fishes of Great Britain 
and Ireland. A good description of one of the Cornish specimens, with a 
figure by Jonathan Couch, will be found in the Proc. Zool. Soc. Bond ., 1866, 
p. 332, and some remarks on the skeleton of a specimen in the Sencken- 
bergian Museum, Frankfort, by Dr. Gunther, will be found on pp. 336-37 
of the same volume. The Australian specimen has also been briefly 
mentioned and figured by Stead in his Fishes of Australia, 1906, pp. 171-72. 
Later I hope to publish more details of the Motutara specimen, giving 
its measurements, notes on its colour, and some of its osteological characters. 
