CHARACTERISTIC DEEP-SEA TYPES. FISHES. 



29 



reasonable to believe that these fishes live at comparatively mod- 

 erate depths, like the members of the family Trichiuridse. 



Among the bottom-loving groups, the sculpin descends to 732 

 fathoms ; its representatives go back to the tertiary formations. 



The scorpsenoids descend to 440 fathoms. Scorpaena occurs 

 in the eocene of Oraii. 



The blennies are still represented at a depth of 471 fathoms. 



The gobies have a representative in deep water, Callionymus 

 (Fig. 207), a huge sea-robin-like fish. The discovery of a mem- 



Fig-. 207. Callionymus Agassizii. About ^. 



ber of this old-world family in the Gulf of Mexico, at a depth 

 of 340 fathoms, is one of the noteworthv features of the 



*i 



" Blake " exploration. 



We should also mention the tile-fish dredged off our Middle 

 Atlantic coast in deep water, the remarkable Lopholatilus cha- 

 mceleonticeps. 



Chiasmodon niger (Fig. 208) is a species which has been 



Fig. 208. Chiasmodon niger. About . (U. S. F. C.) 



often described, but its common name, " the great swallower," 

 is so characteristic that we may here recall it to memory. It is 

 able to take in fishes fully half as large as itself. Gunther 



