500 DEEP-SEA FISHES OE THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



HALIEUTELLA, Goodeand Bean. 



Halieutella, Goode and Bean, Froc. Biol. Soc. Washington, n, 1882, 88. 



Body maltheiform, subcircular, depressed, its width equal to its length; covered with 

 flaccid, inflatable skin. Spines feeble and less numerous than in Halieuttea. Head merged 

 in body; forehead with a transverse bony ridge; no perceptible supraoral cavity; no ten- 

 tacle. Mouth small, terminal; lower jaw slightly curved forward. Teeth in the jaws 

 minute, cardiform; not discernible on palate, though possibly present. Carpus broad, 

 slightly exserted. Pectoral fins remote from tail, obliquely placed, with membranes sub- 

 vertical. Branchial aperture posterior to carpus, upon the disk, and not remote from its 

 margin. Grills 2J. Teeth on palate. Dorsal tin 5-rayed, inserted at junction of disk with 

 caudal peduncle. Anal flu 4-rayed, originating at root of caudal peduncle. 



HALIEUTELLA LAPPA, G : and Beau. (Figures 412, A, B.) 



Halieutella lappa, Goode and Bean, loc. vil. 



Disk subcircular, more than two-thirds as long as the body. Body covered with a 

 loose, flaccid, inflatable skin, which so obscures its proportions that it is impossible to de- 

 termine its exact height, but it is not nearly so much depressed as in the related genera. 

 When the body is inflated the height and length of the disk are nearly equal. 



Spines rather feeble ; about 10 between snout and dorsal fin. About (! strong spines, witli 

 conical bases and stellular tips on the outer margin of the disk on each side, the anterior 

 of them being opposite the eye. In front of these spines on the discal margin, and between 

 them and the snout, are several small, simple spines, pointing backward. Belly armed 

 with spines similar to those on the back, but weaker. A stellate spine upon the tip of the 

 snout, with two weaker, simple spines on each side. Nasal openings midway between eye 

 and tip of snout. Mouth small, upon the margin of the disk. The upper jaw is shorter than 

 the diameter of the eye. Teeth as described in the generic diagnosis. Dorsal fin inserted 

 at posterior limit of disk, with five simple, articulated rays, its longest ray one-fifth as long 

 as the disk. Anal fin with four simple, articulated rays, inserted directly beneath the 

 fourth ray of the dorsal; its second, and longest, ray one-fourth as long as the disk. Caudal 

 twice as loug as anal, and slightly longer than caudal peduncle, with nine simple, articu- 

 lated rays. Carpus inserted at a distance from the snout equal to twice the length of the 

 longest pectoral ray, which is slightly greater than the distance of posterior margin of 

 carpus, at its junction with disk, (torn vent. Number of pectoral rays, 15. Ventral in- 

 serted at a point equidistant from the snout and the origin of theanal; length of its longest 

 ray (the fourth) equal to one-half the distance of the anal fin from the snout. 



Radial formula : 1). 5; A. 4; ('.it; 1*. 15; V..".. 



Color, yellowish white. 



A single specimen, 1J inches long, was dredged by the TJ. S. Fish Commission steamer 

 Fish Hawk at station 1151, N. hit, 39° 58' 30", W. Ion. 70° 37', in a depth of 125 fathoms. 



D1BRANCHUS, Peters. 



Dibranchut, Peters, Mouatsberiehte, Konig. Akad. Wiss., Berlin, 1875-'76, 736, (type, D. atlantieua, Peters). — 



Gill. Pro.-. U. S. Nat. Mas., i, 231. 

 Halieutwa, (part) Goope, Proc. Y. S. Nat. Mus., m, 467. — Jokdah and Gilbert, Bull. xvi,IT. S. Nat. Mus., 851. 



Maltheids with head merged in body, very large, much depressed, forming a broadly 

 ovate disk, with margin prolonged laterally to a greater extent than in the allied genera. 

 Cranial portion of disk not elevated. Interorbital area low, narrow, with orbits partly 

 superior. Supra-oral cavity large, protected above by transverse bony ridge. 



Mouth terminal, horizontal, wide; lower jaw convex, teeth in cardiform bands upon 

 jaws; vomer and palatines edentulous. 



Branchiie 2, the first and fourth arches without lamella?, the fourth arch inconspicu- 

 ous. Branchial apertures small, anterior to pectoral and upon disk. 



