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Show 1877.] ON T H E FISHES O F T H E ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 293 bird is dead. This fact I have often noticed while preparing the skins of Eurypyga helias; and it is exactly the same with the feathers of Mesites variegata. I therefore suggest that the genus Mesites should be arranged in the Natural System next to Eurypyga and its near ally Rhinochetus. I may add that on examining the powder-down under a glass, I find the structure of that of Mesites nearly identical with that of Ardea cinerea. 6. Account of the Fishes collected by Capt. Feilden between 78° and 83° N. lat., during the Arctic Expedition 1875-6. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S. [Eeceived March 20, 1877.] (Plate XXXII.) 1. COTTUS QUADRICORNIS, L. A young specimen, 4 inches long, was found dead by Mr. Eger-ton on the beach in Dumbell Harbour (lat 82° 30'). No other saltwater fish is known at present to have been found at a higher latitude. In this young specimen the nuchal tubercles are only indicated ; but having compared it with a specimen obtained on the English coast, another from Lake Wettern, and with two from Sir J. Richardson's collection (the locality of which is not known, but which most probably were given to him by one of the previous arctic explorers), I have no doubt as to their specific identity. Dr. Liitken has excluded this species from his list of Greenland fishes (' Arctic Manual,' p. 116). 2. ICELUS HAMATUS, Krbyer. Previously known from Spitzbergen and Greenland, seems to be one of the most common fishes in the latitudes between 80° and 82°. Two specimens were obtained at Discovery Bay (81° 44'), three at Franklin-Pierce Bay (in 15 fathoms), and seven at Cape Napoleon. All these specimens were caught in the month of August, and were ready for spawning. 3. CYCLOPTERUS SPINOSUS, Miill. Previously known from Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Greenland. Two specimens from Cape Napoleon, and four from Franklin-Pierce Bay are all young, and interesting as showing the irregular manner in which the conical spines are developed. The largest of these young specimens is not quite 2 inches long; and the tubercles are much less numerous than in an adult specimen ; it is rough, and covered with minute spines. In a specimen 15 lines long only traces of the tubercles are visible on the skin. A specimen 12 lines long is quite naked, whilst another of the same size has the tubercles as much de- |