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Show FISII. 123 dorsal, and answering to it exactly. The ventrals are attached at a point, in this specimen, about half an inch posterior to the middle of the entire length, reckoning this to the end of the fleshy part of the tail; but are not much out of the middle, if the length be reckoned to the end of the upper lobe of the caudal: their length is contained not quite three and a half times in the entire length, excluding caudal; and they reach exactly to the end of the dorsal and anal : first ray very much branched, and only one-third the length of the fin; second ray appearing like two or even three rays at its upper extremity, from the circumstance of the several branches of it being of unequal length; all the other rays branched likewise. Vent a very little in advance of the anal. Upper lobe of the caudal one-third shorter than the lower; this last being exactly the same length as the ventrals. D. 11; A. 12; C.l6, &c.; P. 18; V.6. Length 12 inches 8 lines. CoLoun.-The colours were not noticed in the recent state; and the specimen is in such bad condition, and so much altered by the spirit, that they are now no longer distinguishable. The flying-fish above described was taken by Mr. Darwin in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Peru, in Lat. 18° S. It appears to be the E. exsiliens of Bloch, but as I am not aware that the species of Exocmtus have been ever rigourously worked out, and closely compared from different parts of the globe, I have thought it expedient to annex a description, by which it may be identified, if it prove hereafter distinct.* FAMILy .-SALMONID.lE. I. TETRAGONOPTERUs AnRAMIS. Jen. PLATE XXIII. fig. 1. T. corpore subrlwrnboideo, compressissimo, altitudine fere dimidium longitudin£s, pinna caudali exclusd, cequante : osse maxillari angusto, retrm·sum arcuato : pinna dorsali triangulari, supra ventmles accurate exorienti; anali lcevi, tonga, altitudine 1·etro cito decrescente; utraque plicis membranaceis, radiis longitudinaliter adltcerentibus, instructa : squamis in lined laterali 46, in linea inter pinnas ventrales et dorsalem transversa I 7. B. 4; D. I flO; A. 2/30; C. 19, &c.; P. 13; V. 8. LoNG. unc. 4. lin. 7. FonM.-Of a subrhomboidal form, the nape and back being much elevated, whence the profile falls very obliquely and in nearly a straight line. Greatest depth nearly half the entire length, excluding caudal. Body very much compressed, the thickness being nearly three and a half times in the depth. Head approaching to a laterally flattened cone, with the length and height nearly equal. Snout very short; mouth but little cleft; when open, the lower jaw projecting * Swainson is of opinion that "more than double the number of species of E.coc(X!t!ls really exist above those that have been described."-Nat. /fist. of Fishes, vol. i. p. 290. |