DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 153 



of 1,017 fathoms; and station cocxxxvm, in 38° 18' 40" N. hit,, 73° 18' 10" W. Ion., at a 

 depth of 922 fathoms. 



A closely allied species, y. avocetta, lias recently been discovered off the Pacific Coast. 



LAB1CHTHYS, Gill and Ryder. 



Labichthys, Gill and Ryder, Pror. U. s. Nat. Mus., \ , 1883, 261. — Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Anier., 56. — 



Jordan and Davis. Rep. I*. S. 1'. C, ls8S, 6.">5. 

 Avocettina, Jordan and 1>a\i>, Rep. U.S. ]■'.(.. 1888, 655. 



Nemichthyids with the head behind the eyes contracted and with very attenuated jaws. 

 Lateral line with a single row of pores. Branchiostegal membrane connected with the throat 

 and the branchial apertures bmited to the sides. Small conical teeth in a band along the 

 vomer and otherwise dentition of Nemichthys. A black epidermis. Tail probably filamen- 

 tous, but abruptly truncated in all known specimens. 



LABICHTHYS CARINATUS, Gill and Ryder. (Figure 171.) 



Labichthys caiinatus, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vi, 1883, 261. — Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Amer., 

 57.— Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, 656. 



The ridges that bound the median rostral sulcus converge and form a carina along the 

 median Hue in vertical from the anterior border of the orbit. The greatest height of the 

 body (at posterior third) of the type specimens (0.447 meter long) is 0.013 meter, and the 

 height behind pectorals is 0.0055 meters. Color black. (Gill.) 



Radial formula: D. 208; A. 287; P. 13. 



The type of this species (No. 33369, TJ. S. N. M.) was obtained by the Albatross from 

 station 2076, in 41° 13' N. lat., 65° 33' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of 906 fathoms. 



A closely allied form, Labichthys Gillii, Bean, (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. xiii, 1890, 45) was 

 taken in 1888 by the Albatross in 1,569 fathoms off Alaska. It has the vent somewhat 

 remote from the pectorals, and the dorsal origin over their tips. 



LABICHTHYS ELOXGATUS, Gill and Ryder. (Figure 172.) 



Labichthys elongatus, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U. S. Nat Mus., VI, 1883, 262.— Jordan and Davis, Rep. 

 U. S. F. C, 1888, 656. 



The ridges that bound the rostral groove are not confluent backwards in a cariuiform 

 extension, but end in a vertical from the orbit. The greatest height of the body (at poste- 

 rior third) in the type specimen (0.542 meter long) is 0.015 meter. Color black. 



Radial formula: D. 346; A. 309 + x. (The anal is destroyed towards its end);* P. 19. 

 (Gill.) 



The type of the species (Cat, No. 33577, U. S. N. M.) was taken by the Albatross at 

 station 2100, in 39^ 22' X. hit., 68^ 34' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of 1,628 fathoms. 



LABICHTHYS INFANS, (GCnther), Goode and Bean. (Figure 173.) 



Wemichtkys xnfans, GCnther, Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist., 24, 1878; Challenger Report, xxn, 1884, 264, pi. 



lxiii, figs, B, b', b", b'". 

 Avocettina infant, Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, 655. 



Body much less elongate and eye much smaller than in Nemichthys scolopaceus. 

 Vent twice or thrice as distant from the root of the pectorals as is the latter from the e.\ e. 



This species was taken by the Challenger in mid-Atlantic, station 101, depth, 2,500 

 fathoms; one specimen 11 inches long; and off Pernambuco, station 122, depth 500 fathoms, 

 one specimen 74 inches long. The specimen was mutilated. 



Besides these two specimens, the British Museum has received from the Mona Channel, 

 in the "West Indies, a third which was found attached to an old telegraph cable that had 

 been laid at a depth of 114 fathoms; it is 14 inches long, but had a greater part of its body 

 mutilated during life. This specimen, which is fairly well preserved, has been fully de 



