DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THKllt DISTRIBUTION. 415 



obtuse [load wit limit prom incut ridges, with wide [nuciferous cavities. Dorsal tin planted 

 over origin of pectorals, its longest spine smooth. Pectorals placed high, opposite upper 

 angleofgill cleft. Scales small, bristly. Lateral line originating at upper angle of gill 

 cleft. 



Malacocephalus occurs in the northeastern, southeastern, ami southwestern Atlantic, 

 the Mediterranean ami the Bay of Bengal. 



The Macrurus macrochir assigned here by Dr. Giinther does not appear to us to lie con- 

 generic with Malacocephalus (a vis. We have therefore proposed for it a new genus under 

 the name Abyssicola, the diagnostic characters of which are given on page 117. 



MALACOCEPHALUS L.EVIS, (Lowe), Gl Miner.. 



Macrurus lamia, Lowe, I 'oh. Zool. Soc., London, 1843, 92. ' 



Macrurus (Malacocephalus) lams, GOnther, Challenger Report, xxn, 1SS7, lis. pi. xxxix, lig. I!; Ami. and 



Mag. Nat. Hist.. Dec, 1889, U8.-Ai.cock, Aim. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1889, 398. 

 Malacocephalus latvis, Gunther, tat. Fish. Brit. Mus.. iv. 397.— LOtken, Vid. Meddel. Nat. Foren., Kjohenhavn, 



1872, L— Moreau, Hist. Nat. Poiss., France, in. 284. 



Head compressed, with vertical sides; muciferous cavities wide. .Snout obtusely coni- 

 cal, slightly projecting beyond the month, the cleft of which is oblique, anterior and lateral, 

 and extending somewhat behind the middle of the eye. Teeth of the upper jaw biserial, 

 those of the outer series much stronger than the inner; mandibulary teeth uniserial. Bar- 

 bel shorter than the eye. The interorbital space flat, its width being equal to or less than 

 the diameter of the eye. which is large, longer than the snout, and one-third or two-sevenths 

 of the length of the head. Scales very small, much deeper than long, covered with short 

 minute bristles. Praeoperculum with the posterior margin slightly excised above the angle, 

 and with the lower margin not serrated. The entire head is covered with minute, rough 

 scales. Anterior dorsal spine smooth. Pectoral flu about two-thirds of the length of the 

 head. The vent (Fig. b) is close to the root of the ventrals, which reach beyond it; it lies 

 at the end of an oval scaleless depression, and there is another triangular scaleless space 

 between the roots of the ventrals. Distance between the vent and the isthmus two thirds 

 of the length of the head. 



Brownish above, sides silvery; axil, ventrals and the region in front of them black; 

 branchial cavity partly black, inside of the mouth white. [Giinther.) 



Radial formula: I). 13-11; P. 17; V. !>. 



The type, 1*» inches long, obtained by Lowe at Madeira, is in the British Museum, where 

 it was examined by us in 1883. Liitken has found the species on the coast of Denmark, 

 and Giinther records its capture southwest of Ireland in 250 fathoms and in the Medi- 

 terranean. The Challenger obtained a single specimen off the coast of Pernambuco (station 

 122) in 350 fathoms. The Investigator obtained a form supposed by Alcock to be identical 

 with this in the Andaman Sea in 265 fathoms, and in the Laccadive Sea in 188-220 fathoms. 

 It has not yet been observed in the northwestern Atlantic. 



Giiuther's revised diagnosis is given above. 



MALACOCEPHALUS OCCIDEXTALIS, Goode and Bean. (Doubtful species). 



Malacocephalus occidentalis, Goode and Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. 1885, 598. 



Small specimens, 37336, in imperfect condition were obtained from Albatross station 

 2310, north latitude 35° 14', west longitude 71° 51' (length 151 millimeters and 20:'. milli- 

 meters), at a depth of 132 fathoms, and from Blake station lxxxiii, off Granada, at a 

 depth of 164 fathoms (length 111 millimeters). They correspond in the main with Giiu- 

 ther's full description of Malacocephalus Icevis, but differ in the position of the vent, the 

 ventrals, and the anal tin; the latter commencing at a distance behind the vent equal to 



1 Macrurus huh. M. pallidus, griseus, lacidus, laevigatas lissinis areolato-scaber, inermis; squamia 

 inconspicuis minutia; capite rostroque acuto abbreviatis, simplicibus (nee coelatia aeo carinatis); oculis 

 rotundati- : dent ibus in maxilla inferiore validis, uuiscriatis; pinnae duisulis prima; radio priwo iucrwi. 



1 D. 1+9; 2. D. 6t. A. 8; P. 15; V. 1+7. 



