ACANTHOPTERYGII 



66 1 



They are remarkable for the movable flap below the eye, bearing 

 a luminous organ, the nature of which has recently been investi- 

 gated by Max Weber. 1 



Fam. 12. Pseudochromididae. Closely allied to the Ser- 

 ranidae, and connected with them through Plesiops and its 

 allies. Dorsal and anal fins elongate and formed mostly of 

 articulated soft rays, the spines being feeble and few. 



A. With two lateral lines : Pseudochromis, Cichlops. 



B. With a single lateral line : Opisthognatlms, Latilus, Caulo- 

 latilus, Lopliolatilus, -Malacantlius, Bathy master, Ratlibunella. 



Marine, mostly of small size, inhabiting the Atlantic, Indian, 

 and Pacific Oceans. About 30 species. One of the largest and 

 best-known members of this family is the Tile-Fish (Lopliolatilus 

 chamaeleonticeps), living upon the bottom of what is known as the 



FIG. 404. Tile-Fish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps). x J. (After Goode and Bean.) 



Gulf Stream slope, off the coast of New England, where it was 

 first observed in 1879. Here the water is normally compara- 

 tively warm, coining as it does from the superheated region of the 

 Gulf of Mexico. During a series of unusually severe gales in 188 2, 

 this mass of water was pushed aside, as it were, and replaced by 

 colder water. As a result, millions and millions of these fishes 

 were killed, and their dead bodies literally covered the surface of 

 the sea for hundreds of square miles. It was feared that the Tile- 

 Fish was exterminated ; this was not so, however, and the fish 

 has reappeared in tolerable abundance within the last few years. 

 Fam. 13. Cepolidae. Agree in essential characters with the 

 preceding, but body baud - like with very numerous vertebrae 



1 Siboya Expedition, Introd. 1902, p. 108. 



