. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. EASTMAN: DESCKIPTIONS OF BOLCA FISHES. 33 peal characters are combined in the accompanying text-figure, so far as they are observable. There is little room for doubt that these interesting and rare pediculates are identical with the species described by Baron de Zigno under the name of Histiocephalus bassani, although the type-specimen is so imper- fectly preserved that his description is at variance in some points with the one given above, and the affinities of the type have remained more or less obscure. The latter,
. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. EASTMAN: DESCKIPTIONS OF BOLCA FISHES. 33 peal characters are combined in the accompanying text-figure, so far as they are observable. There is little room for doubt that these interesting and rare pediculates are identical with the species described by Baron de Zigno under the name of Histiocephalus bassani, although the type-specimen is so imper- fectly preserved that his description is at variance in some points with the one given above, and the affinities of the type have remained more or less obscure. The latter, indeed, was referred to the Scorpaenidae l;y Dr. A. S. Woodward in his Catalogue of Fossil Fishes in the British Museum. The characteristic pectoral members are not shown in de Zigno's illustration of this form, and the head is much disfigured; as for a supposed membrane sup- ]i()rted by the cephalic spines (to which the name Histiocephalus alludes), no indication is afforded by the new material that such a structure existed. An interesting fact to be noted is the close correspondence existing between the fin-formulae of the fossil and recent species. In the connnon Angler, Lophius. Fm;. C. Illstloiiutoiihoius hiisMinl ((\e7Ag\w). X J- A composite ilrawing based upon three individuals belonging to tlie Miis. Comp. Zool. piscatorius, for instance, as well as in the form under discussion, the first and second dorsal together comprise 13 rays, and the number of rays Ijebjnging to the caudal, anal, and ventral fins is identical in both species. It is to be regretted that the cranial osteology is not more clearly displayed, as it would be interesting to compare the various degrees of modification exhibited by the Eocene and modern pediculates. The recent genus Corynolo- phus exhibits a similar thickening of the dentary and other btmes of the lower jaw, and another resemblance is seen in the construction of the premaxillaries, which are probably movable, but further than this we can
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