158 THE FAUNA OF THE DEEP SEA 



They are nearly all small slender fish with delicate 

 and frequently semi-transparent bodies, large gaping 

 mouths armed with numerous long irregular teeth, 

 and frequently provided upon the head and sides 

 of the trunk with rows of eye-like phosphorescent 

 organs. 



These families, and others that have still to be 

 referred to, belong to the group of Teleostei that is 

 called Physostomi, the name referring to the open 

 communication that usually exists in all these families 

 between the swimming bladder and the alimentary 

 canal. It is a remarkable fact that in none of the 

 deep-sea representatives has this open communication 

 been discovered. It is true that many specimens are, 

 when examined, so lacerated by the diminution in 

 pressure as to render anatomical study a matter of 

 difficulty, but still a fair number of uninjured well- 

 preserved specimens have now been examined and 

 the duct has not been found. 



Of the family Sternoptychidas, Gonostoma micro- 

 don has a most remarkable distribution. It has been 

 found at numerous stations in both the Pacific and 

 Atlantic Oceans at depths ranging from 500 to nearly 

 3,000 fathoms of water. 



The Scopelidas are represented by some very 



