Gobioidei, Discocephali, and Tasniosomi 479 



Four of these fishes have been obtained on the coast of Japan, 

 and have been described and figured by the present writer in 

 the annals of the Imperial University of Tokyo. These are 

 different from the California species and are named Trachypterus 

 ishikawce, but they show the same bright silver color and the same 

 streamers on the head and tail. Probably they, too, in Japan 

 are kings of something or other, or perhaps silver swans from 

 the submarine palace, for along such lines the Japanese fancy 

 is more likely to run. 



The young of the dealfish has the caudal symmetrical, and 

 the dorsal spines and ventral rays produced in very long 

 streamers. 



According to Goode and Bean, the dealfishes are "true deep- 

 sea fishes, which live at very great depths, and are only found 

 when floating dead on the surface or washed ashore by the 

 waves. Almost nothing is known of their habits except through 

 Nilsson's observations in the far north. This naturalist, as well 

 as Olafson, appears to have had the opportunity of observing 

 them in life. They say that they approach the shore at flood- 

 tide on sandy, shelving bottoms, and are often left by the 

 retreating waves. Nilsson's opinion is that its habits resemble 

 those of the flatfishes, and that they move with one side turned 

 obliquely upward, the other toward the ground; and he says 

 that they have been seen on the bottom in two or three fathoms 

 of water, where the fishermen hook them up with the imple- 

 ments employed to raise dead seals, and that they are slow 

 swimmers. This is not necessarily the case, however, for the 

 removal of pressure and the rough treatment by which they 

 were probably washed ashore would be demoralizing, to say the 

 least. Trichiurus, a fish similar in form, is a very strong, swift 

 swimmer, and so is Regalecus. Whether or not the habits of 

 Trachypterus arcticus, on which these observations were made, 

 are a safe guide in regard to the other forms is a matter of 

 some doubt, but it is certain that they live far from the surface, 

 except near the arctic circle, and that they only come ashore 

 accidentally. They have never been taken by the deep-sea 

 dredge or trawl-net, and indeed perfect specimens are very 

 rare, the bodies being very soft and brittle, the bones and fin- 

 rays exceedingly fragile. A considerable number of species have 



