

DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND TIIKIl; DISTRIBUTION. 139 



very narrow bands, \ illilbiin. a dense cluster on tin; vomer. Length of head equal to that 

 of the trunk. 'lad about twice as long as body. Dorsal beginning far in advance of gill 

 opening and pectoral. Color yellowish; blackish <>n termination of tail. 



Specimens were obtained by the Albatross &i stations 212] and 2122, in 31 to 34 fath- 

 oms, and at station 2402, iu 111 fathoms; also by the Blake at station CCLXXV, in 84 fathoms. 



COLOCONGER, Alcock. 



Coloconger, Alcock, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov. and Die, 1889, 156. 



Snout and tail very short. Muscular and osseous systems well developed. Four gills, 

 which communicate with the pharynx by wide slits, dill openings separate. Heart situ- 

 ated immediately behind the gills. Eyes large. Posterior nostril superior. Clef! of mouth 

 wide, extending beyond the middle of the eye. Tongue tree. Teeth in a single continuous 

 ridge in each jaw; none on the vomer. No scales. Vertical fins well developed, confluent; 

 the dorsal begins above the root of the pectoral. Pectorals well developed. 



This genus contains one species, Coloconger raniceps, Alcock [loc.cit.), taken by the In- 

 vestigator in the Andaman Sea, off Ross Island, in from 265 to 271 fathoms. 



PROMYLLANTOR, Alcock. 



rromyllantor, Alcock, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., sixth series, Vol. 6, p. 310. 



A genus allied to Congromurcena, with body stout, with the muscular and osseous 

 systems well developed. Tail about as long as the trunk. Muciferous cavities of the head 

 well developed. Eye rather small. Cleft of the mouth narrow, not extending behind the 

 middle of the eye. Villiform teeth in broad bands in the jaws and in a broad, conflueut 

 patch on the palate. Tongue free. Nostrils lateral. Gill openings widely separate; four 

 gills with wide clefts. No scales. Pectoral aud vertical fins well developed, the latter 

 confluent. The dorsal begins some distance behind the occiput. 



The genus is known from oue species, P. purpureas, Alcock, from 1,000 fathoms in the 

 Arabian Sea, by the Investigator at station 104. 



Family SIMENCHELYID^E. 



Simenchelyida-, Gili. (with Goode and Bean), Hull. Essex Inst., v, 11,27, 1879; Standard Nat. Hist., Ill, 

 107, 1885; Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus., xm, 1890, 239 (No. 817).— Jordan, Rep. Com. Fish.. 1885, v. 13, 844 

 (Sep., p. 56, 1885), 1887.— Jordan and Davis, Eep. U. S. P. ('., isss | 1891 i, 669. 



Simenchelyince, Jordan and Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. Am., 357, 1882. 



Apodal fishes with snout blunt; anterior, transverse mouth; jaws massive and teeth 

 blunt, uniserial, on edge of jaws only; no teeth on vomer, gill openings horizontal, inferior, 

 moderately separated. 



SIMENCHELYS, Gill. 



Simenchelys, i.ii.i. (with Goods and Bean), Bull. Essex Inst., xi, issii, p. 27. 

 Conchognathua,CoLjJETT, Bull. Soc.Zool. France, 1889, 1-2. 



Body eel like, with a short, blunt snout and an eel-like tail. The branchial apertures 

 are short logitudinal slits on each side of the throat below the pectorals, which are well 

 developed : the dorsal commences about a head's length behind the pectorals, the anal con- 

 siderably in advance of the second half of the total length. The skin has scales like those 

 of .1 nguilla, linear, scattered, and disposed at right angles to each other. The head is very 

 short; the premaxillai ies and mamillaries of each side consolidated intoa single piece aud 

 separated from that of the opposite side by the ethmoid, and provided with la nielli form 

 posterior margin and an expanded antero terminal process; mandible \ei\ dee)); teeth 

 blunt, uniserial; the operculum saber shaped. 



SIMENCHELYS PARASITICUS, Gill. (Figure 101.) 



Simenchely 8 parasiticus, Gill (with Goode and Bean), Fish. Essex Co. & Mass. Bay, 1879, 27. — Jordan and 

 Gilbert, Bull, xvi, U. S. Nat. Mas., 363.- GOnther, challenger Report, xxn, 252.— Gill, loo. <it. — I<>u- 

 I'an A Davis, loc.cit. — Conehognathm Grimaldii, Collett, Ball. Zool. Soc. France, 1889, 122. 



Head blunt, rounded, bulldog-like in aspect; angle of month midway between the tip 



