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Show 1889.] FISH FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. 331 berg, director of the Zoological Institute of the Messina University, to w h o m I owe many other ichthyological rarities ; and as a mark of m y gratitude and esteem I have thought proper to give his name to so singular a species, which is evidently as yet undescribed. These specimens are now in the Central Collection of Italian Vertebrata in the Royal Zoological Museum at Florence. As they present differences in size and in other respects, I shall proceed to describe them briefly. M y smallest specimen (Plate X X X I V . fig. 2) measures 28^ millimetres in total length ; it was caught on the 10th of M a y , 1887. It is evidently much younger than the other two ; the two dorsals are yet united and the larval median fin extends as a crest to the head ; the caudal is, however, quite distinct and remarkable for its lanceolate form. The abdominal cone is comparatively smaller than in the two older specimens, and a membrane unites its hinder portion to the anal fin. The lobe of the pectorals is very distinct, and the rays look thickened at their distal ends. The ventrals have the characteristic form and development. The colour of the body is yellowish white (in alcohol); eight very distinct broad black bands cross the body transversely, being slightly oblique : the first occupies the base of the abdominal cone, the last the root of the tail; the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th are continued as a black blotch on the base of the anal fin ; the ventral paddles are tipped and edged with black, the ray is, however, white ; otherwise the fins are colourless. Looking with a lens, these black bands and blotches result in an accumulation of dark points or chromatophores; this is the case also in the other specimens. The second specimen, according to size and age, measures 68 millimetres in total length ; it is figured slightly enlarged (Plate X X X I V . fig. 3). It was captured alive near the surface in the harbour of Messina on the 2nd of June, 1888. It bears considerable resemblance to the first specimen described, but has lost some of the larval characters above noted ; all the median fins are well distinct, the caudal has an oval contour ; but the abdominal cone, covered with a slightly silvery skin, shows still a posterior membranous fringe which partially unites it with the anal fin. The pores on the head and nape are very distinct. In colour this specimen is also very similar to the first one; the black transverse bands are very well marked, but they are slightly fainter and the first one does not extend to the abdominal cone, which is well developed. Ten very distinct black blotches extend along the base of the anal fin and three along the caudal end of the second dorsal; three additional blotches are on the back between the 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, and 6th and 7th transverse bands. The third specimen has the aspect of an adult. It was caught also near the surface at the entrance to the harbour of Messina at the end of April 1884. It measures 78 millimetres in total length ; head 16 millimetres ; from nape to apex of abdominal cone 27 millimetres ; height of body immediately behind the abdominal cone 12 millimetres. I have figured it once and a half the natural size (Plate X X X I V. fig. 4). It differs especially in colour from the two younger and |