readily felt than seen : the angle at bottom is rounded, and rather exceeds a right angle ; a
vertical from the angle would form a tangent to the posterior edge of the orbit ; the ascending
margin is not quite straight, bending slightly inwards a little below the middle. The opercle
terminates posteriorly in a very obtuse angle, and shows some indication of two very minute
flattened points, which, however, do not project beyond the membrane : from the lowermost of
these points the margin of the subopercle passes obliquely forwards to form a continuous curve
with that of the interoperele, which is tolerably well developed. Gill-opening of moderate size:
the branchial membrane, which apparently has only four rays, has a shallow notch in front, and
passes continuously from one side to the other, without being attached to the isthmus.
T he lateral line commences a t the upper angle of the opercle, and, inclining upwards, runs
parallel, not to the dorsal line which can hardly he distinguished, but to the upper edge of the
dorsal fin, its distance from which is contained about three times and a half in the entire depth;
it terminates a little before the termination of th a t fln. Cranium, snout, cheeks, pieces of the
opercle, the body, and all the vertical fins, covered with finely ciliated scales ; those on the
crown and snout small, but those on the opercle and body large; the latter arranged' in oblique
rows ; about twenty-seven in a longitudinal line from the gill to the caudal, and about fourteen
in a Vertical one from the dorsal to the ventral line : a scale taken from the row beneath the
lateral line, and about the middle of the body, is of an oblong form, its breadth exceeding its
length, with the free edge dotted and finely ciliated, the basal margin rather deeply crenated,
the crenations separated by seven striæ , which are carried on tor only a short way, and do not
converge to a fan. The scales on the dorsal and anal fins are small and closely compacted ;
those on the former arranged obliquely, but the line of obliquity is in the opposite direction to
what it is on the body.
The dorsal fln commences in a line with the posterior angle of the opercle, and occupies a
space equalling half the entire length : the height of the spinous portion is nearly uniform, but
slightly increases backwards ; between the tips of the spines, the membrane is a little jagged :
tlm soft portion is scarcely more than one-third the spinous in length, but is somewhat higher,
terminating upwards in an acute angle ; the longest of the soft rays is about half the depth of
the body, the dorsal fin Itself not included. The anal answers to the soft portion of the dorsal,
which it exactly resembles; it has two spines in front, the first of which is very sliort, and
scarcely more than one-third the length of the second, which itself is shorter than the soft rays ;
the second spine is stouter than any of the dorsal spines. These two fins terminate m the same
vertical line. The caudal appears to have been square, but the rays are worn at the tips, so that
its exact form cannot be ascertained; it is coated with scales for four-fifths of its length from
the base. Between the dorsal and the caudal fins is a space equalling not quite one-third the
depth of the body. Pectorals attached a little behind the opercle, and a little below the middle ;
slightly pointed ; about the length of the head or rather shorter ; the first ray only half the
length of the second ; fourth and fifth longest ; all the rays, with the exception of the first two
and the last two or three, branched. Ventrals attached a little further back than the pectorals ;
the first soft ray prolonged into a filament reaching to the commencement of the anal ; the
spine is about half the length of the filamentous ray, and about two-thirds that of the second
soft ray. Between these fins is an oval lanceolate scale about one-third their length ; and in
their axillæ another elongated one, narrower and more pointed than the former, and rather
exceeding it in length.
B. 4 ; D . 12/16; A. 2/12; C. 15, and 4 sh o rt; P . 21 ; V. 1/5.
Length 3 inches.
C o l o u r .— N o t n o tic e d in t h e r e c e n t s ta te . In spirits, th e w h o le fis h , fin s in c lu d e d , a p p e a r s o f a
u n if o rm d a r k b ro w n .
Habitat, Porto Praya, Cape Verde Islands.
The only specimen of this new genus which exists in the collection was taken
by Mr. Darwin off Quail Island, in the bay of Porto Praya. It is small, but
probably full-sized, or nearly s o ; since the greater part of the species of
P om acentrus, to which genus it is so strongly allied, average about the same
dimensions. Possibly some of the generic characters, which I have given above,
may prove hereafter to be merely specific ; but till other species shall have been
discovered, their exact value cannot be ascertained.
F a m i ly .— SCOMBRID.®.
G e n u s — PA RO PSIS. Jen.
Corpus altum , rhomhoideum, valdh compressum, squamis m inutissim is ohtectum. Linea
lateralis aniich sursum pauló arcuata, per totam longitudinem inermis. Cauda
lateribus haud carinatis. D enies in utraque m axillá uniseriati, tenuissimi, acuti;
in lÍ7iguá, vomere, et palatinis, velutini brevissimi. A pertura bi-anchialis amplissima,
membrana decem-radiatd. S p in a quinqué libera loco p in n a dorsalis p r im a ; spiná
minutii p ra eu n te i'ecUnatá ayitrorsum Jiexd. D orsalis secimda, aqxie ac analis,
continua, sine pinnulis fa ls is : ante aiialem spina d u a libera. Pectorales p a rva .
V entrales nulla. Caudalis profundh fu rca la , lobis acuminatis, subelongatis.
Tliis new genus belongs to that section of the Scom brida characterized by
having a number of short free spines, instead of a first dorsal fin. It is most
nearly allied to L ich ia, especially to the L . glaucus, which it resembles in general
form, as well as in many of its particular characters. It has the same reclined
spine in front of those which represent the first dorsal, and the same two free
spines in front of the a n a l; also the same form of opercle ; the same deeply-
forked caudal, and small pectorals. B ut it may be at once distinguished from
that genus by the absence of ventrals, of which there is not the least trace : the
body is also deeper, rhomboidal rather than oval, and more compressed. In all
these respects it agrees better with Strom ateus, which would seem particularly to
meet it in those species, such as the S . candidus and S . securifer, which are
represented by Cuvier and Valenciennes as having a number of minute truncated