156 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genus II. Lepidopus, Gouan. 



Vandellius, Shaw. Scarcina, Rafinesque. Zipotheca, Montagu. 



Branchiostegals seven or eight : pseudobranchice present. Body elongated and 

 strongly compressed. Cleft of mouth deep. Eyes lateral and rather large. Teeth in 

 the jaws and palatine bones, some in the premaxillaries and mandibles being enlarged 

 and barbed. A single long dorsal fin extending from the occiput along almost the 

 entire length of the bach. Caudal distinct and forked. Ventrals in the form of a 

 pair of scales. Pectoral with the lower rays the longest. Anal spines numerous, and 

 cuncealed beneath the shin, the last few enlarged, connected by a membrome, and 

 forming a fin which is continued to opposite the end of the dorsal. Scales abseid. 

 Lateral-line median. Air-bladder present. Pyloric appendages many. 



The genus obtained the designation of Lepidopus, or " scaly-foot," owing to the 

 ventral fins being replaced by a pair of scales. 



Geographical distribution. This abyssal form exists in the Mediterranean, also 

 in the Atlantic from the British shores as far as the Cape of Good Hope, as well 

 as along the coasts of New Zealand and Tasmania. A species, L. tenuis, from 

 Japan has likewise been described. 



1. Lepidopus caudatus, Plate LI, fig. 2. 



Lepidojms, Gouan, Hist. Poiss. p. 185, pi. 1, f . 4 ; Bowdich, Exc. p. 10, f. 1 : 

 Four-toothed Scabbard-Fish, Pennant, Brit. Zool. (Ed. 2, 1812), iii, p. 210. 



Lepidopus argenteus, Bonn. Ency. Ich. 1788, p. 58, pi. Ixxxvii, fig. 364 (not 

 Linn.). Nardo, J. Phys. Pav. vii, p. 227 ; Moreau, Poiss. Erance. ii, p. 544, c. fig. 



Trichiurus caudatus, Euphr. Stockh. K. Vet. Acad. Nya. Handl. 1788, ix. p. 48, 

 t. ix, f. 2 ; Walb. Artedi, iii, p. 607. 



Lepidopus Gouani, Bl. Schn. p. 239, t. liii, f. 2. 



Lepidopus Gouanianus, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 151, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 290. 



Trichiurus gladius, Holten, Kjobenh. Skr. Af. Nat. Selsk. 1802, v. p. 23, t. ii, f. 1. 



Vandellius Lusitanicus, Shaw, Gen. Zool. 1803, iv. p. 199. 



Lepidopus Lusitanicus, Leach, Zool. Misc. ii, p. 7, pi. lxii. 



Ziphotheca tetradens, Montagu, Wern. Mem. i, pp 82.623, t. ii and iii, and ii, p. 432. 



? Trichiurus lepturus, Hoy, Journal Linn. Soc. xi, p. 210. 



Scarcina argyrea, Rafin. Caratt, p. 20, t. vii, f. 1. 



Lepidopus Peronii, Risso, Ich. Nice. p. 148, t. v, f. 18, and Eur. Merid. iii, 

 p. 291. 



Lepidopus argyreus, Cuv. Regne Anim. pi. lxvii ; Cuv . and Val. viii, p. 223, 

 pi. ccxxiii; Jenyns, Manual, p, 371 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish (Ed. 1) i, p. 176, c. fig. 

 (Ed. 2) i, p. 198, (Eel. 3) ii, p. 269 ; Lowe, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii, p. 181 ; Guichen. 

 Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. 59 ; Cocks, Roy. Cornw. Pol. Soc. 1869, p. d8 ; Ball, Dublin, 

 N. H. Rev. ii, p. 45. 



Lepidopus ensiformis, Bonap. Catal. No. 710 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 254. 



Lepidopus tetradens, Flem. Brit. An. p. 205. 



Lepidopus caudatus, White, Catal. Brit. Fish, p, 32 ; Giinther, Catal. ii. p. 

 345 ; Gill, Pro. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1863, p. 227 ; Robson, Tr. N. Z. Inst, viii, p. 

 218; Allport, Pr. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1875, p. 86; Steind. Ich. Span. u. Port. 

 1867, p. 101 ; Giglioli, Cat, Pesci Ital. p. 24. 



Scabbard fish, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, ii, p. 59, pi. lxxvii. 



B. viii, D. 100-105, A. 18-25, C. 16-18, Ccec. pyl. 23, Vert. 41/71. 



Length of head 7, of caudal fin 21 to 24, height of body 15.^- to 18 in the total 

 length. Eye circular, diameter 5 to 5| in the length of the head, 2} diameters 

 from the end of the snout. Lower jaw prominent, the maxilla reaches to beneath 

 the front edge of the eye. Some smooth ridges exist along the upper surface of 

 the head. Teeth jaws furnished with a single row of about 20 to 22 small and 

 compressed teeth, internal to which there are anteriorly in the upper jaw, 2 or 3 

 large, with as a rule, barbed fangs, and another in the lower jaw ; a few fine ones 

 on the palatines ; tongue smooth. Fins the dorsal commences over the posterior 

 half of the operclc, and is continued along the back almost as far as the base of the 



