498 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



ONCHOCEPHALUS, (Fischer), Gill. 



Ogcocephahts, Fischer, Zoognosia, 1813, 7s. 

 Onohoeephalus, Gill, MS. 



Malthe, Cuvier, Regne Animal, 1st ed., 1817, n, 311 . — GCnther, Cut. Fish Brit. Mus., m, 200. — Jordan and 

 Gilbert, Bull, xvi, 1'. S. N. M., 850. 



Maltheids with Lead very large, much depressed, subtriangular; cranial portions ele- 

 vated, with orbits lateral. Mouth protractile, subrostral, horizontal; jaws convex; villiform 

 teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines. Branchiae 2A, the anterior arch without lamellae. Soft 

 dorsal tin very low. Pectorals large, placed horizontally. Ectoderm armed with osseous 

 tubercles. Air bladder and pyloric caeca wanting. Habitat: Western Atlantic from Brazil 

 to Cape Cod and eastward to Bermudas. 



This genus includes two species; one, .1/. radiata, occuring in deep waters off the coast 

 of North America; the other, the polymorphic .17. vespertilio, from Brazil to Cape Cod, 

 and perhaps still farther northward. It has been found at 95 fathoms. 



ONCHOCEPHALUS RADIATUS,( Mitciiill), Goode and Bean. 



Lophius radiiitiis, MlTCHILL, Amer. Monthly Magazine, II. 1818,326. (Specimen from the Straits of Bahama) 



Malthe radiata, Jordan, l'roc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vn. 141. (Eel grass about Key West). 



Malthe eubifrons, Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, Fishes, 103, pi. 96. — GCnther, Cat. Fish. Brit. 



Mus., in, 203.— Goode, Proc. U S. Nat. Mus., u, 109 (St. Augustine!). 

 Malthea tiasuta, Auctorum. 



This species, first described by Mitchill from the straits of Bahama, was also described 

 by Richardson from a specimen presented to him by Audubon, professedly from Labrador, 

 but more probably belonging to the South Carolina collection transmitted at the same time. 

 Richardson's type, now in the British Museum, was carefully studied by Dr. Bean, whose 

 measurements are appended. 



Jordan is of the opinion that this species is a form of M. vesper/ i I in, a conclusion which 

 does not seem untenable when we consider the immense variation of individuals which has 

 forced even the conservative Giinther to bring together as identical the forms described by 

 Cuvier and Valenciennes as Malthea longirostris, M. nasuta, M. notata, .1/. aiigusta, and M. 

 truncata. 



Giinther was doubtless influenced by the supposed difference of locality to leave M. 

 radiata in a separate species. 



Appended are measurements of the typical example and of an individual of nearly 

 equal size from Pensacola, Florida. The species is not uncommon ou the east coast of Flor- 

 ida, but has only once been recorded from Labrador. The type was presented to Sir John 

 Richardson by Audubon, who may have been misinformed as to its origin. 



In the Pensacola example, No. 31908, the dorsal surface of the body is dark gray, with 

 numerous small, roundish black spots having a whitish origin. The under surface is light 

 gray. The largest body spots are one-fourth as long as the eye. The upper side of the 

 pectorals have spots similar to those of the body, but more elongate and irregular. The 

 cheeks are spotted like the sides of the body. The tubercles are largest and most numerous 

 along the dorsal surface of the body. The caudal peduncle is thick and heavy. The nasal 

 tentacle is trilobate at the tip. The posterior nostril is more than twice as large as the 

 anterior, which has a rudimentary tube. The teeth are in villiform bauds on the vomer, 

 palatines, and in the jaws. The vent is behind the middle of the length to caudal base. 



Upon examinatiou of the measurement table it will be apparent that the actual differ- 

 ences between the two examples are so slight as to remove all doubt concerning their 

 specific identity. 



