Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 30.djvu/284

plumes consisted of six; four were broken away, but the two left measured 16 in. and 16¾ in. The liver was bright scarlet. The stomach was quite empty, except some coarse sand, small pieces of shell, and pumice-stone that had been swallowed in the creature's death agony.

The specimen came ashore at Moturoa Bay, at the first reef to the east of the life-boat shed, on the 28th November, 1895, and, so far as I can learn, is the first recorded occurrence of the fish on the coasts of the North Island, all those hitherto obtained having been incidental to the South Island.

It may not be out of place to state that for a couple of days previous to the stranding of our visitant, and also on the morning the event happened, the neighbouring sea had been frequented by several small whales—evidently of the goose-beak variety, and which were both fighting amongst themselves and were attacked by one or more threshers. In their rampaging below they may have disturbed the ribband fish, and so have been the primary cause of its deviation into shallow water, and so on to the beach.

The finder, Mr. McKay, stated he was sitting quietly amongst the rocks near the margin of the sea (it being dead low-water at the time) when, hearing a gentle splashing, he proceeded to the spot, and discovered the fish, which was not quite dead, but giving the little tremor now and then which led to its detection. He informed me it was perfectly un-damaged, except that the two ventral rays were broken off; but I imagine this was done in hauling the fish out of the water, and placing it in the cart on a board, in which fashion it was brought up to town, a distance of about two miles. However, by the time I saw it but one of the rays was left, and it was only on my drawing attention to it, under the fish, that the existence of such appendages appeared to be in his cognisance.

The fish then was not long dead, as a few slight movements or quivering of the muscles occurred. It presented a