FISHERY BULLETIN: \0L. 69. NO. I 



one of which was represented by a single speci- 

 men. 



Ophichthidae 



The 31 occurrences of ophichthid eels were 

 distributed in a broad coastal band between 

 Manzanillo, Mexico, and northern Peru (lat 

 7° S). 



Serrivomeridae 



Leptocephali of this family were taken at 33 

 stations, of which 21 were in the outer pattern 

 occupied by Argo. Occurrences were grouped 

 into two broad bands — one centered on lat 5° N, 

 the other located between lat 7° and 20° S in the 

 South Pacific central water mass. 



Xenocongridae 



The leptocephalus of Chlopsis was obtained 

 at 22 stations, most located between Panama Bay 

 and the Galapagos Islands. 



21. MELAMPHAIDAE 

 (298 occurrences, 857 larvae) 



Melamphaid fishes are the most important 

 family of berycoid fishes in the mesopelagic 

 zone. Four of the five recognized genera occur 

 in the EASTROPAC area: Melamphaes, Sco- 

 pelogadn-s, Scopelobryx, and Poromitra. Accord- 

 ing to Ebeling ( 1962) five species of Melamphaes 

 are common in the eastern tropical Pacific, two 



additional species were collected within the 

 EASTROPAC area, and four other species were 

 collected on the fringes of the area. Only one 

 kind of Scopelogadus, S. mizolepis bispinosus 

 (Gilbert), is known from the eastern Pacific 

 (Ebeling and Weed, 1963) . The remaining two 

 genera, Scopeloberyx and Poromitra, await re- 

 vision; the species composition of these genera 

 in the EASTROPAC area is inadequately known. 

 Although melamphaid larvae can be identified 

 to the generic level with some assurance, few 

 developmental series have been worked out at 

 the species level. 



Larvae of Melamphaidae were widely distrib- 

 uted in the EASTROPAC area, occurring in 

 62 ''r of the collections. Although negative 

 hauls were fewest between the equator and lat 

 15° N, the average number of larvae per pos- 

 itive haul was rather similar in all areas (Table 

 18). 



23. BREGMACEROTIDAE 

 (194 occurrences, 1,805 larvae) 



Larvae of the gadoid family, Bregmacerotidae, 

 ranked sixth in abundance, contributing 1.9 % 

 of the fish larvae of EASTROPAC L The only 

 genus, Bregmaceros, is widely distributed in 

 pelagic waters of the tropical and subtropical 

 regions of all oceans. D'Ancona and Cavinato 

 (1965) recognized seven species in a worldwide 

 treatment of the genus. These authors stressed 

 the difficulties in species identification. 



A preliminary study of EASTROPAC col- 

 lections of Bregmaceros laiA'ae, supplemented 

 by collections of juveniles and adults obtained 



34 



