182 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



an appendix to his great work, Yaillant expresses the opinion that he. had erred in forming 

 a new genus, and that it belongs properly to Helamphaes, of Gunther. 



Scopelogadus is well distinguished from both Melampkaes and from Plectromus by vari- 

 ous characters, most prominent of which are the short head, comparatively small mouth, 

 rudimentary eye, and short dorsal and anal tins, which overlap to the extent of nearly a 

 third of the length of each. 



SCOPELOGADUS COCLES, Yaillant. (Figure 199.) 

 Scopelor/adus codes, Valliant, Exp. Sci., Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 143, pi. xxvi. 



Height of body one-fonrth of total length (without caudal); length of head three- 

 tenths. Eye minute, rndimen tary. Length of the maxillary half the length of the head; 

 length of pectoral equal to that of the head, its tip extending far behind the vent and to 

 the vertical from the ba se of the antepenultimate dorsal ray; length of the ventral about 

 half that of the pectoral, its tip not reaching to the vent. Scales large, about 21 in the 

 longitudinal series — 2 above and i below. Dorsal placed midway between the snout and 

 the base of the upper caudal rays (not the an teeedent rudimentary spines). Origin of the 

 anal under the base of the preantep cnultimate dorsal ray, the dorsal overlapping it nearly 

 one-half of its leng tli. 



Eadial formula: D. 12; A. S+; V. 10. 



A long description, accompanied by several figures of anatomical details, is given by 

 Yaillant. The species was described from four specimens obtained on the Banc D'Arguin 

 at depths of from 1,000 to 1,250 meters, and off the Cape Verde Islands at 3,655 meters. 



MALACOSARCUS, Gunther. 

 Malacosarcus, Gunther, Challenger Report, xxn, 30. 



Head large and thick, with bones very thin, and with wide and deep muciferous cavi- 

 ties; also the canal along the lateral line is much distended. Cleft of the mouth wide, 

 obliquely descending backwards, with jaws nearly equal in front. A narrow band of villi 

 form teeth in both jaws; palate toothless. Eight branchiostegals, pseudobranchia? present. 

 The edges of the preoperculum and the lower edge of the mandible with minute and 

 distant spines. Scales extremely thin, not sculptured, deciduous, irregular, and of moderate 

 size. One dorsal; caudal emarginate, with broad basal fold above and below; anal spines 

 very feeble. Veutrals small, five-rayed, inserted at some distance behind the pectorals. 

 Gills four; gill-lamina' short; gill-rakers long, needle-shaped. (Giinther). 



Although this fish is only a degraded form of Melamphaes, Giinther decided to make it 

 the type of a distinct genus, since otherwise the generic definition of Melamphaes would 

 lose much in precision. 



This peculiar genus is represented by the single species M. macrostoma, Giinther (Ann. 

 and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1S7S, vol. n, p. 18(3; Challenger Report, Vol. xxn, p. 30), obtained in 

 the mid-Pacific, Challenger station 271, at a depth of 2,425 fathoms, 3i inches long; and 

 near the Low Archipelago, station 270, at a depth of 2,350 fathoms, 3i inches long. No 

 vestige of it has yet been found in the Atlantic. 



POROMITRA, Goode and Bean. 



Poromitra, Goode and Bean, Bull. M. C. Z., x, 1883, 214. — GUNTHER, Challenger Report, xxn, 34. 



Body short, compressed, scopeliform, covered with thin, cycloid scales. Head very 

 large, nearly half the entire length of the fish to base of caudal, with scales upon cheeks, 

 suboperculum, and probably elsewhere. No barbel. Mouth very large, the lower jaw 

 projecting. Margin of upper jaw composed of a short intermaxillary and a long maxillary. 

 Teeth cardiforin, numerous, very small, on the intermaxillaries and mandibles: none dis- 

 covered on maxillaries, palatines, or vomer. Opercular apparatus complete. 



Dorsal fin in the middle of the body, its origin not far behind that of the veutrals, the 

 spinous and soft portions subequal in length. Anal much shorter than dorsal, its middle 



