FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



their remains have been found in the stomachs 

 of deep-feeding predators. 



In describing Lepidion verecundum, Jordan 

 and Cramer (1897) reported "dorsal VIII-40; 

 anal 37; ventral apparently 1 (some rays broken 

 on each side)." A radiograph of the 51-mm-SL 

 holotype (USNM 47748) revealed that these 

 counts should be D. 8, 39; A. 40; P2. 2; in ad- 

 dition there are 19 pectoral rays, 30 caudal rays, 

 7 branchiostegals, and 45 vertebrae of which 12 

 are precaudals. 



In describing the genus Microlepidium, Gar- 

 man (1899) made several erroneous observa- 

 tions on the specimens he examined. He report- 

 ed a "V-shaped single series of teeth on the 

 vomer" (the single series is slightly bowed or 

 crescent-shaped), ventral fins comprised of four 

 rays (there are only two) , and no barbel (a bar- 

 bel is present, though microscopic). He noted 

 that his M. grandiceps could be "distinguished 

 from M. verecundum Gilb. [sic] by the larger 

 number of rays and the shallower notch in the 

 anal fin, the greater length of ventrals, pectorals 

 and maxillary, and the larger number of scales 

 in a longitudinal series." His report of "A. 4" 

 for M. grandiceps is obviously a typographical 

 error, and since the radiograph of the holotype 

 of Lepidion [ = Microlepidium'] verecundivm 

 showed 40 anal rays, this character is negated 

 for distinguishing the two. The other charac- 

 ters Carman used for separating M. grandiceps 

 from M. verecundum are equally without basis 

 in fact, and since we were unable to find even 

 slight variance between the two, we relegate M. 

 grandiceps to the synonymy of M. verecundum. 



We have examined material of M. verecundum 

 from the following localities, all oflf Mexico; lat 

 22°51'30"N, long 108°14'W, 12 Nov. 1967, Velero 

 11750, 1 spec; lat 22°45.2'N, long 110°00.7'W, 

 16 Jan. 1969, Alaska 69A1-11, 2 specs.; lat 21° 

 13.8'N, long 107°08'W, 18 June 1952, SI066-411, 

 1 spec; lat 20°56.2'N, long 108°44'W, 16 May 

 1960, SI063-979, 1 spec; lat 20°21'N, long 106° 

 lO'W, 19 Jan. 1970, Velero 13759, 3 specs.; lat 

 20°16'N, long 111°32.2'W, 19 Apr. 1954, SI054- 

 88, 7 specs.; lat 19°54.1'N, long 108°38.9'W, 18 

 May 1960, SI063-981, 3 specs.; lat 19°52'N, long 

 113°20.5'W, 21 Apr. 1954, SI054-92, 13 specs.; 

 lat 18°41'N, long 111°00'W, 20-21 Apr. 1954, 



SI054-91, 26 specs.; lat 18°41'N, long 110°51W, 

 18 Feb. 1971, Searcher 57, LACM 31751-3, 1 

 spec; lat 18°17'15"N, long 114°44'30"W, 6 Mar. 

 1889, Albatross 2993 (x-ray of holotype exam- 

 ined) ; lat 15°57'N, long 105°56'W, May 1968, 

 remains of 16 fish including otoliths in stomachs 

 of Dosidicus glgas. 



Physiculus nematopus Gilbert, 1890 



D. 9-11, 57-67; A. 62-67; C. 22-25; P. 23-25; 

 P2. 6; Br. 7; rakers on first gill-arch 4-6 + 12-14 

 = 16-19; posterior rakers on first gill-arch 3-5 

 + 10-13 = 14-17; vertebrae including hypural 

 13-14 + 38-40 = 52-53. 



There are no teeth on the vomer and palatines ; 

 those in the jaws are villiform and in bands. 

 A round block fossa, reportedly a luminous or- 

 gan, lies on the midline of the belly about oppo- 

 site the posteriormost base of the pelvic fins. The 

 chin and throat region are densely scaled and 

 rough to the touch. The dorsal and anal fins 

 terminate adjacent to the sixth from last verte- 

 bra, including the hypural; the caudal rays com- 

 mence adjacent to the fourth from last vertebra. 



Morphometric data are presented in Table 1. 



Jordan and Evermann (1898) designated spec- 

 imens labeled USNM 46486 and 46555 as lecto- 

 types from among the material collected in the 

 Culf of California by the Albatross. P. nemato- 

 pus ranges from the northern Gulf of California 

 (lat 30°26.3'N) to the Gulf of Panama (lat 07° 

 06'15"N) and has been captured at depths rang- 

 ing from 76 to 1,271 m. Specimens from depths 

 greater than about 366 m probably are captured 

 well off" the bottom; juveniles particularly are 

 often taken in or near the scattering layer. The 

 largest individual we have seen was 170 mm SL 

 (189 mm TL). 



Although P. nematopus was described from 

 material dredged in the Gulf of California north 

 of La Paz {Albatross stations 2997, 3011, 3015, 

 and 3016), Goode and Bean (1895) in recording 

 the species noted that it was found "off" the south- 

 ern coast of California." This erroneous state- 

 ment has been perpetuated in the literature ever 

 since (Jordan and Evermann, 1898; Jordan, 

 Evermann, and Clark, 1930), 



568 



