FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



143 



silver, with the luminescent organs pale blue 

 or green. 



Size. — The specimens from which this species 

 was originally described seem to have been about 

 7 inches long. 27 



General range and occurrence in the Gulf of 

 Maine. — This oceanic species is only a stray 

 within the limits of the Gulf. One specimen has 

 been found in the stomach of a cod caught on 

 Browns Bank, 28 and another, also from a cod 

 stomach, has been reported on Western Bank off 

 the outer coast of Nova Scotia. 29 



Lanternfish Myctophum affine (Liitken) 1892 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 570. 



Description. — The most noticeable features of 

 this little oceanic fish are its silvery black color, 

 the luminous dots along its sides, its enormous 

 eye situated close to the tip of the snout, its very 

 deep oblique mouth, and its deeply forked tail. 

 The anal fin is mostly or wholly behind the short, 

 soft dorsal, and there is an adipose fin behind the 

 latter, as in the headlightfish (p. 142). The longer 

 snout and smaller mouth of Myctophum, with the 

 fact that the luminous organs on its snout are in 

 the form of small dots instead of a large patch 



covering the entire tip of the snout, are the readiest 

 field marks to distinguish it from the latter. The 

 dorsal profile of the head is much arched, the 

 body moderately flattened sidewise, tapering 

 gently backward to the rather deep caudal pe- 

 duncle. The location of the luminescent spots is 

 shown in the drawing (fig. 61). 



Color. — This lanternfish is silvery when alive, 

 the silver underlain on the back with deep brown- 

 ish black, the sides below the lateral line, and the 

 belly varying (below the silver) from dark 

 brown to dusky gray, or even to white finely 

 dotted with gray. The luminescent organs are 

 pale green or blue. 



Size. — All members of the genus Myctophum 

 are small; a little more than %}% inches (89 mm.) 

 is the maximum length recorded for this particular 

 species. 



General range. — All the species of this genus 

 are oceanic, occurring only as strays inside the 

 edge of the continent. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Goode and 

 Bean 30 report the capture of this lanternfish over 

 the southeast slope of Browns Bank (lat. 42° 21' 

 N., long. 65° 07' W.) at 104 fathoms, which still 

 remains the only record for it in the Gulf of 

 Maine, 31 or for any Myctophum for that matter. 



Figure 61. — Lanternfish (Myctophum affine). After Parr. 



PEARLSIDES. FAMILY MAUROLICIDAE 



The Pearlsides resembles the lanternfishes (p. 

 141) in shape of body, but it has a shorter rayed 



* The Illustration (Goode and Bean, Smithsonian Contrlb. Knowl., vol. 

 31, 1895, fig. 103) , about 6 Inches long, Is characterized In the legend as "slightly 

 reduced." 



» Reported by Goode and Bean (Smithsonian Contrlb. Knowl., vol. 30, 

 1895, p. 88) as Atthoprora effulgens. 



» Vladykov, Proc. Nova Scotia Inst. Scl., vol. 19, 1935, p. 2. 



dorsal fin, a longer adipose fin, a longer anal, and 

 a much smaller mouth. 



» Smithsonian Contrlb. Knowl. (vol. 30, 1895, p. 72) as M. opalinum. 



» It Is likely that Myctophum alacialt will be found In the Gulf of Maine 

 sooner or later, judging from Its widespread distribution In the boreal belt 

 of the Atlantic and from the fact that It has often been caught at the surface. 

 It resembles M. afiint very closely In appearance, and In the general arrange- 

 ment of the luminous organs, but differs from It In that one of the luminescent 

 spots above the base of the ventral On Is elevated above the others. 



