Art. LXIII.—Remarks on New Zealand Fishes.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 9, 1876, Page 469

Art. LXIII.—Remarks on New Zealand Fishes. By Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S., Keeper of the Zoological Department, British Museum.* “Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,” May, 1876. Anthias richardsonii, Gthr. This fish also occurs on the coast of New Zealand, Scorpis hectori of Hutton (“Fishes of New Zealand,” p. 4, Fig. 4), being evidently the same species. Chilodactylus spectabilis (Hutton, 1872, Febr). This name is to be adopted instead of Ch. allporti (Gthr., 1872, Sept.) Anema monopterygium. After having re-examined a number of examples of this fish, I cannot agree with Capt. Hutton that two species are confounded under this name. The filament within the mouth of these fish appears often to be accidentally lost, and is probably reproduced. Leptoscopus. I regard L. huttonii (Haast, “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” V., p. 275) as identical with L. macropygus, and L. robsonii (Hector, 1875) as the young of L. angusticeps (Hutton, 1873). I am indebted to Dr. Hector for a specimen of this L. robsonii, which was obtained in Cook Strait. Seriolella. Additional examples of various ages of the species of Neptomenus (Gthr.), from New Zealand and Tasmania, have convinced me of the identity of this genus with Seriolella (Guichen). In young age the præoperculum is distinctly denticulated, radiating bony spicules projecting beyond its margin; with advancing age the interspaces between the projections are filled up

with bone. That this genus belongs to the Carangidœ I have already mentioned in “Proc. Zool. Soc.,” 1869, June 10. Platystethus Huttonii. D. 13 | 36; A. 3/32; L. lat. 90. Body much compressed, its height being one-third the length of the head, one-fourth of the total (without caudal). Eye of moderate size, two-ninths of the length of the head, situated a little before the middle of the head, not far below the upper profile. Præorbital at least as wide as the eye. Mouth oblique, with the lower jaw very prominent, very narrow, the maxillary not extending to the front margin of the eye. Dorsal spines feeble, of moderate length; the soft dorsal and anal low. Anal spines short, but stronger than those of the dorsal fin. Pectoral broad, rounded, half the length of the head. Ventrals small. Caudal deeply forked. Silvery; back above the lateral line, greenish; the spinous dorsal black. Two specimens, 6 ½ inches long, from Dunedin, New Zealand, were sent by Capt. Hutton. Neophrynichthys Latus. D. 9 | 17; A. 14; P. 23; V. 2. The whole fish is enveloped in a loose, smooth skin. Head very broad, the interorbital space being especially wide and flat; snout short, rounded, with the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. The cleft of the mouth reaches to below the front margin of the eye, which is lateral and of moderate size. Pectorals very large, extending somewhat beyond the origin of the anal. Ventrals very short, externally simple, but really consisting of two rays. Caudal subtruncate. Brown, covered all over with round whitish spots. One specimen, 6 ½ inches long, from Dunedin, obtained from the Otago Museum. This fish has been named by Capt. Hutton Psychrolutes latus; and, from a careful comparison with Psychrolutes paradoxus, I can confirm the correctness of his view as regards the affinity of these two fishes; but the presence of a well-developed first dorsal appears to me to demand the separation of the New Zealand fish into a distinct genus. The discovery of this fish led me to re-consider the position which the Psychrolutidœ ought to take in the system. As the absence of the first dorsal cannot be retained as one of the characters of the family (which would connect it with the Gobiesocidœ), I think those fishes ought to be removed from the division of Gobiesociformes to that of the Cottoscombriformes, where it would follow the Batrachidœ. * In my systematic synopsis of the families of Acanthopterygian fishes, a misleading error has crept in (p. ix), the family Psychrolutidœ being characterized by “Ventrals none,” instead of “No adhesive ventral apparatus.” Also the diagnosis of the fourteenth division should be corrected by striking out the words “or entirely absent.”

Crepidogaster Hectoris. D. 7; A. 8. Snout flattened, not produced, its length being not quite twice the diameter of the eye, or equal to the width of the interorbital space. The length of the head is two-sevenths of the total (without caudal). Caudal peduncle slender, longer than the caudle fin, the short dorsal and anal being widely separated from the latter fin. Ventral sucker small, not broader than long. Red. One specimen from the southern shore of Cook Strait, 26 lines long; presented by Dr. Hector, C.M.G. Labrichthys celidota, Forst. The specimens described by the New Zealand naturalists as L. psittacula are not the Australian species so named by Richardson; they appear to me to be the adult of L. celidota, in which the dark lateral spot has disappeared or is disappearing. The true L. psittacula has one and a-half series of scales between the lateral line and dorsal fin; L. celidota two and a-half. Bregmaceros punctatus. In a small collection of fishes from Cook Strait, received from Dr. Hector, I have found an example of the interesting fish described by Capt. Hutton as Calloptilum punctatum. * “Trans. N.Z. Institute,” V., 267, pl. 11. I do not think that it should be generically separated from B. macclellandii, the actual separation of the soft dorsal into two fins being evidently an individual character, as in our specimen the two portions are connected by intermediate rudimentary rays. A similar interruption, though much less perfect, can be seen also in the anal fin. In the latter fin I count 57 rays, and in the anterior portion of the dorsal 22, Capt. Hutton giving them respectively as 44 and 11. The long isolated ray in front of the anal, shown in the figure given by Capt. Hutton, is not present in our specimen. I have also to add that minute teeth are present in both jaws, and that the gill-membranes are separate to the chin. Rhombosolea tapirina, Gthr. We have received from Capt. Hutton, under this name, a specimen with the eyes on the left side, and with two ventrals. I believe that he is right in considering it to be merely an accidental variety, the development of a second ventral being in connexion with the reversal of the sides. Scopelus Hectoris. D. 12; A. 16; L. lat. 39. The height of the body is two-ninths of the total length (without caudal), the length of the head two-sevenths. The least depth of the tail is less than half the height of the body. Eye rather large, two-sevenths of the

length of the head, or one-half of its distance from the end of the operculum. Posterior margin of the præoperculum obliquely descending backwards. Snout very short, obtuse, with the lower jaw scarcely projecting. Cleft of the mouth slightly oblique. The maxillary reaches to the angle of the praæoperculum, and is scarcely dilated behind. Origin of the dorsal fin nearer to the end of the snout than to the root of the caudal, above the root of the ventral; its last ray is just in front of the vertical from the first anal ray. Pectoral fin short, scarcely reaching the ventral. Scales perfectly smooth, those of the lateral line rather smaller than the others. One specimen 2 ⅓ inches long, from the southern side of Cook Strait, New Zealand; presented by Dr. Hector, C.M.G. Maurolicus amethystino-punctatus, Cocco. Having seen a specimen of M. australis, described by Dr. Hector in “Trans, N.Z. Institute,” VII, p. 250, and presented by him to the British Museum, I believe it to be identical with the Mediterranean species named by Cocco. The number of fin-rays is difficult to ascertain whenever the specimens are not well preserved; but the New Zealand specimen appears to agree with the European species also in this respect. Syngnathus blainvillianus. (Eyd. and S.) Of this fish, which hitherto has been found on the west coast of South America only, we have received an example from Cook Strait, New Zealand, through Dr. Hector.