THE FISH OF THE DEEP SEA 157 



very largely to the deep-sea fauna ; uo fewer than 

 twenty-six different species are known to occur 

 within the limits of the abysmal zone. Not only 

 do the Macruridse contribute a large number of 

 different species, but they probably occur, in some 

 districts at any rate, in vast numbers. 



During the voyage of the ' Talisman,' for example, 

 the French naturalists caught in one haul of the 

 dredge off the coast of Morocco in 500 fathoms of 

 water no fewer than 134 fish, of which number 95 

 belonged to the family Macruridae. 



They are usually small fish, measuring from a few 

 inches to two feet in length, with a body terminating 

 in a long compressed tapering tail and covered 

 with spiny, keeled, or striated scales. 



The Pleuronectidae or flat fish are not, as a rule, 

 found in the abysmal zone ; one species, however, 

 Pleuronectes cynocjlossu.*, was found by the American 

 ship ' Blake ' to extend into 732 fathoms of water. 



The families Stemoptychidas and Scopelidee are 

 of particular interest to us, as almost all the genera 

 they contain belong either to the pelagic or abysmal 

 zones, and lend support to the view enunciated by 

 Moseley, that the deep-sea fauna has, partly at any 

 rate, been derived from the fauna of the pelagic zone. 



