Description of a new species of fish, <I>Apogon pandionis</I>, from the deep water off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay

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160 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

J>ES€RIl»TIOIV

OF A NEW SPECIES OF

FISH,

APOOOIV

FAIVDIOIVIS, FROITI

TME DEEP IVATER OFF THE inOVTH OF CHESAPEAKE

BAV.

BY

G.

BKOWW OOODE AND TARL.ET01V H. BEAIV.

Among

^the ^fishes collected in October, 1880,

by

Capt. Z. L. Tauner, on the Fish Commission steamer Fish

Hawk,

off the entrancetoChesa- peake Bay, isa singlespecimen ofaspecies ofApogon,apparently

new

to science.

The

specimen being

somewhat

mutilated, this description isnecessarilyincomplete.

Apogonpandionis,newspecies. Goode andBean.

Body

oblong,ratherrobust,itsgreatestwidth(behind thegills)being equal to half the length of the head,

and

contained six times in the length of

body

without caudal; its greatest height contained about thrice

and

two-thirds inthe

body

length. Least height oftailalmost equalto half the greatest height of the body. Scales,small cycloid, forty-fivein the lateral line; three longitudinalrows above

and

nine below thelateral line; lateral linecomplete.

Length

of head one-third of standard length of body, its greatest widthequalto greatestwidthof body.

Length

of snout four

and

one- half times in length of head. Maxilla extends to a point averylittle

behind the anterior marginof the pupil, the mandible to the vertical fromthe middleofthe eye.

Length

of maxilla equal to long diameter of the eye. Preoperculum apparently unarmed.

Operculum

with

two

flexible points near its upj^er posterior angle. Gill-rakers verylong

and

slender.

Eye

nearlycircular,itslongestdiameter nearly equals half the length of thehead and iscontained seven times in the standard

body

length nearly horizontal.

Width

of interorbital space equals two-thirds the diameter of the eye.

Mouth

oblique, the lower

jaw

projecting. Denti- tion injawshardlyperceptible. Feebleteeth ontheheadof the

vomer and

on thepalatinebones.

Distanceofdorsal fromsnout equalto twice the greatestwidthof the

body

; itslongestspine(fourth)equalinlengthtothree-fourthsthe diameter ofthe eye. Distancefrom origin offirst dorsal to origin ofsecond dorsal equalto twicethe length of the base of thelatter

Distance of anal from snout equaltotwice the length of the head

;

the length ofitsbaseis equaltotwo-thirdsthe lengthoftheeye; of its

longest rayto the length of the maxilla. Firstanal spine minute, its

length equalto one-fourth of the least height of thetail; the second anal spine at leasttwice as long as thefirst. Caudal deeplyfurcate, scaled

upon

the lower portions of thelobes.

Distance of pectoral from snout equal tolength ofhead5 itslength equal tothat ofthe maxilla.

Distance of ventralfrom snoutslightly greater thanone-thirdof the standard

body

length.

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PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 161

Radialformula.—D. VII, I, 9; A. II, 7{; P. 16; V, ^I, 5.

Scales, inlateral line, 45^; abovelateralline, 3^; below, 9.

Colornearlyuniform light, reddish brown,with no blotches. Scales

finely imiu'lnlate withback.

—

^/

Our

description isbashed

upon museum

specimen ISTo.26228.

Among

the otherinterestingformscollected in the

same

localityis a

young

specimen of Hoplosteihus mediterraneiis,

and

also a species of Scorpcena, soonto bedescribed.

mXITAIililC

CASTINGS OF DEIilCATE

IVATUBAIi

OBJECTS.

[Translated.]

The

following process is

recommended by Abbass

fori^roducing me-

talliccastings of flowers, leaves, insects, &c.

The

object, adead beetle forexample,isfirstarrangedin a naturalposition,

and

the feetare con- nected withanovalrim ofwax. Itisthenfixedinthe centreofapaper or

wooden

box

by means

of pieces offinewire, sothat it isperfectlyfree,

and

thickerwires arerun fromthe sidesofthe

box

to theobject, which subsequently serve to form air-channels in the

mold by

their removal.

A wooden

stick,taperingtowardthe bottom, isplaceduponthe back of the insect to produce a runner for casting.

The

box i^ then filled

up

with a paste of three parts of plaster of Paris,

and

one of brick-dust,

made up

with asolutionof

alnm

and sal ammoniac. Itis alsowellfirst tobrushtheobjectwiththis pasteto prevent the formationofairbub-

bles. After the

mold

thusformed has set, the object is

removed

from theinterior

by

first reducing it to ashes. It is thereforedried slowly,

and

finally heated gradually to a red heat,

and

then allowed to cool slowlyto prevent the formation of flaws or cracks.

The

ashes are re-

moved by

pouring mercury into the cold mold

and

shaking it thor- oughly before pouring it out,

and

repeating this operation several times.

The

thicker wires arethen

drawn

out,

and

the

mold

needs sim- plyto be thoroughlyheated before it is filledwith metal in order that the latter

may

flow into allportions of it. After it has

become

coldit is softened

and

carefullybroken

away

from thecasting.

THE OCCURRENCE OF THE CANADA PORCUPINE

IN ITIARVIiAND.

By OTTO I.UOOEB.

Referringtothe paper ontheoccurrenceof the

Canada

^Porcupine in

West

Virginia

by

Mr. Goode, in Vol. I, Proceedings U. S. National

Museum,

page 264, I wish to mention that this Porcupine, EretMzon

dorsaiiis, is still, though rarely, found in Maryland. In the

museum

of the

Maryland Academy

of Sciences is a specimen from

AUeghany

Proc.Nat. Mus. 81 11

Aug. 11,1881.