154 



DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



scribed by Giinther in the Challenger Beport. A copy of bis figure is reproduced. (Fig- 

 ure 174.) 



CYEMA, Giinther. 



Cyema, Gunther, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., n, 1878,251; Challenger Report, xxn, 1887, 265. — Jordan and 

 Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, 65. 



Tbis genus, says Giinther, combines tbe form of the snout of a Xrmii-hthi/s with the 

 soft, short body of a Leptocephalus; but tbe gill openings are very narrow and close together 

 on tbe abdominal surface. Vent in about tbe middle of the length of the body; vertical fins 

 well developed, confined to and interrupted at the extremity of the tail. Pectoral fins well 

 developed. Eye very small. 



It is to be hoped that Dr. Giinther will publish his views more fully upon the relation 

 of this form to Leptocephalus. To a casual observer Cyema, as exhibited in the French and 

 English material, seems very like a young N~emichthys, with its jaws and tail mutilated and 

 partly repaired. 



CYEMA ATRUM, Gunther. (Figure 176.) 



Cyema atrum, Gunther, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., n, 1878, 251; Challenger Report, xxn, 265, PI. liv, Fig. 

 D. — Vaillant, Exped. Travailleur et Talisman, Poissons, 91, PI. vn. Figs. 4, la. — Jordan and Davis, 

 Rep. IT. S. F. C, 1888, 654. 



A specimen 4A inches longwas obtained by the Challenger in the South Pacific, station 

 215, depth 1,500 fathoms; another, 4§ inches long, at station 158, in the Antarctic seas, 

 depth 1,800 fathoms. The French explorers took another, identified by Vaillant with this 

 species, at station xxxvin, 2,210 meters, off the coast of Morocco. This specimen is thus 

 described by Vaillant : 



This is a little fish, 110 to 120 millimeters long and scarcely 2i to •'! millimeters in thick- 

 ness; this form has justly been compared to Leptocephalus by the accomplished Keeper of 

 the Zoological Collections in the British Museum. 



The head is swollen, forming about one-sixth of the total length; the muzzle forms 

 more than a half of the bead; the angle of the mouth is well behind the eye; the jaws are 

 armed with small serrated teeth disposed in quincunx and giving it the appearance of 

 a fine file as in Nemichthys. The upper jaw is in large part wanting, also the extremity of 

 the lower and their dimension can only be given approximately. It is not possible to dis- 

 cover the position of the nostrils. The eyes are small and the interorbital space rather 

 large, about one-seventh of the length of the head. The narrow branchial orifices are close 

 to the lateral line, but not confluent, and placed very near tbe pectorals. 



The anus is situated behind the middle of the total length, at the union of the anterior 

 five-eighths with the posterior three-eighths. The skin is scaleless. 



The dorsal and anal are nearly opposite, on the posterior part of the body, immediately 

 behind the anus. The manner in which these fins terminate is not quite clear; in the living 

 animal it appears to me that they are united, forming a semi-lunar fork, posteriorly wanting 

 the ordinary caudal fin of fishes properly so called, but I am not willing to affirm that the 

 extremity was absolutely intact, the action of the preserving fluid making the ascertain- 

 ment of tbe tact more difficult daily. 



The color is a beautiful velvety black. 



Millimeters. 



Length 105 



Height 7 



Thickness 2i. 



Head, length 17 



Millimeters. 

 Tail, length 40 



Snout, length 9! 



Eye, diameter i 



Interorbital width 2 



The specimen is jSTo. 84-1007, in the ichthyological collection of the Paris Museum. It 

 was taken at station 38. Dr. Giinther states that the species has been taken in depths of 

 3,743 and 3,202 meters in the Pacific and Antarctic oceans. 



