. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. Notes on South African Marine Fishes. 657 The accompanying figure (fig. 7) shows the structure of these specimens, which measured 55-85 mm. in length. The base is enlarged into a hollowed articular surface, which fits on to the gill- arch. The "back" of the knife is shallowly grooved in the proximal half, the margin near the base showing finely corrugated striae. The blade shows irregularly spaced growth lines; the base and tip are. Fig. 7.—Mola mola, bone supporting rod of gill-filaments.
. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. Notes on South African Marine Fishes. 657 The accompanying figure (fig. 7) shows the structure of these specimens, which measured 55-85 mm. in length. The base is enlarged into a hollowed articular surface, which fits on to the gill- arch. The "back" of the knife is shallowly grooved in the proximal half, the margin near the base showing finely corrugated striae. The blade shows irregularly spaced growth lines; the base and tip are. Fig. 7.—Mola mola, bone supporting rod of gill-filaments. (Slightly enlarged.) incomplete in all the specimens. The apices of most of the specimens show a sagittal splitting of both "back" and blade into two halves. The main reason for illustrating these bones is their interest from an anthropological as well as an ichthyological point of view. Mr. A. J. Goodwin, Department of Anthropology of the University of Cape Town, tells me he has found similar bones in some of the cave deposits he has investigated. The resistant quality of these bones, as opposed to that of the other bones of the Sun-fish, may well ensure their preservation in the moderately dry and well-drained kitchen- middens left by the Strandloopers or early natives. Mr. Goodwin kept no specimens, and if he had it would probably have been im- possible to identify them as belonging to any particular kind of fish. Only the size might be some indication. Ranzania truncata (Retzius). 1927. Barnard, Ann. S. Afr. Mus., xxi, p. 989, fig. 32 (references). Two further specimens of this species have come to hand and may be recorded: Inner Basin, Cape Town docks (alive), 23rd December 1932. Kommetje, Cape Peninsula (washed ashore), 23rd August 1934. The stomach of the latter specimen contained a large number of the Megalopa stage of the common Shore-crab Plagusia Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally en
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