The Grayling and the Smelt 129 



tensible mouth, the species capable of swallowing fishes much 

 larger than themselves. 



The viper-fishes (Chauliodontida) are very feeble and very 

 voracious little fishes occasionally brought up from the depths. 

 Chauliodus sloanei is notable for the length of the fangs. 



Much smaller and feebler are the species of the closely 

 related family of Gonostomida. Gonostoma and Cydothone 

 dwell in oceanic abysses. One species, Cydothone elongata, 

 occurs at the depth of from half a mile to nearly four miles 



1-iG 88. Chauliodus sloanei Schneider. Grand Banks. 



almost everywhere throughout the oceans. It is probably 

 the most widely distributed, as well as one of the feeblest and 

 most fragile, of all bassalian or deep-sea fishes. 



Suborder Iniomi, the Lantern-fishes. The suborder Iniomi 

 (iviov, nape; w^os, shoulder) comprises soft-rayed fishes, in 

 which the shoulder-girdle has more or less lost its com- 

 pleteness of structure as part of the degradation consequent 

 on life in the abysses of the sea. These features distinguish 

 these forms from the true Isospondyli, but only in a very few 

 of the species have these characters been verified by actual 

 examination of the skeleton. The mesocoracoid arch is wanting 

 or atrophied in all of the species examined, and the orbito- 

 sphenoid is lacking, so far as known. The group thus agrees in 

 most technical characters with the Haplomi, in which group they 

 are placed by Dr. Boulenger. On the other hand the relation- 

 ships to the Isospondyli are very close, and the Iniomi have many 

 traits suggesting degenerate Isospondyli. The post-temporal 

 has lost its usual hold on the skull and may touch the occiput 

 on the sides of the cranium. Nearly all the species are soft 

 in body, black or silvery over black in color, and all that live 



n 9 



