A WONDER FROM THE DEEP-SEA. 7S 



A WONDER FROM THE DEEP-SEA.* 



By M. L. VA1LLANT. 



DURING the last voyage of the French deep-sea dredging-ship 

 Travailleur, a fish was found, off the coast of Morocco, at the 

 depth of ahout 7,500 feet, which may certainly be regarded as one of 

 the most singular beings yet brought to light in any of these investi- 

 gations. It is about eighteen inches long, and three quarters of an inch 

 thick at the thickest place, and is deep black. Its body, the form of 

 which is marked in front by an enormous mouth, somewhat resembles 

 that of a macrouran, and tapers regularly from near the anterior quarter, 

 where the external branchial orifice may be seen, till it terminates in 

 a point at the caudal extremity. 



A most singular appearance is given to the fish by the disposition 

 of the jaws and the conformation of the mouth. While the head is 

 very short, being less than an inch and a fifth in length, the jaws and 

 the suspensorium are excessively long, the latter measuring more than 

 three inches and three quarters. Hence the angle of the joint is put 

 very far back, at a distance from the end of the snout about three and 

 a half times the length of the cephalic portion. The suspensorium is 

 probably composed of two pieces, one basilar, analogous to the tem- 

 poral, the other external, and doubtless representing a tympano-jugal. 

 The upper jaw is constituted of a long and slender stylet, the situa- 

 tion of which nearly corresponds with that of the intermaxillary, 

 while the maxillary is wanting, unless we assume that the two bones 

 are confounded. Slight, tooth-like granulations may be felt on both 

 jaws, and two teeth, about two millimetres long, may be seen at the 

 end of the mandible. The buccal orifice is, in consequence of this 

 disposition, enormous, and is the introduction to a cavity of still more 

 astonishing dimensions. The upper jaw is, in fact, united to the sides 

 of the head and the fore part of the body by an extensible fold of the 

 skin, which permits a considerable separation. Between the branches 

 of the mandibles is extended an analogous but more dilatable mem- 

 brane, containing, as is shown by histological examination, a great 

 number of elastic fibers, in bundles, which may be compared to the 

 pouch of the pelican. In consequence of the divergence of the jaws 

 and the extensibility of the membranes, the mouth, with the pharynx, 

 forms in the fresh animal a vast tunnel, of which the body of the fish 

 seems to be a drawn-out continuation. It is presumed that food was 

 accumulated, and partly digested, in this pouch. 



The organs of locomotion are most rudimentary. The swimming- 

 fins are reduced to two little appendages, situated near where the pec- 



* From a paper read before the French Academy of Sciences. 



