PIETSCH and VAN DUZER: SYSTEMATICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANGLERFISHES 



based primarily on five female specimens (two M. 

 murrayi, 75 and 84 mm SL, and three M.johnsoni, 

 44.5, 60, and 75 mm SL; material representing the 

 remaining species of the genus was unavailable) 

 cleared and stained with Alizarin red S following 

 the trypsin digestion technique (Taylor 1967). 

 Bone terminology follows Pietsch (1974). 



Unless otherwise indicated, all diagnoses and de- 

 scriptions are based on female specimens >20 mm 

 SL. For males and larvae see Bertelsen (1951). 

 Material is catalogued in the following institu- 

 tions: Australian Museum, Sydney ( AMS); British 

 Museum (Natural History), London (BMNH); 

 Bingham Oceanographic Collections, Peabody 

 Museum of Natural History, Yale University 

 (BOC); California Academy of Sciences, San Fran- 

 cisco (CAS); Florida State Museum, University of 

 Florida, Gainsville (FSM); Institute of Oceanol- 

 ogy, Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R., Moscow 

 (lOAN); Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Sur- 

 rey, England (lOS); Institut fiir Seefischerei, 

 Hamburg (ISH); Natural History Museum of Los 

 Angeles County (LACM); Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology, Harvard University (MCZ); National 

 Museum of New Zealand, Wellington (NMNZ); 



Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (ROM); South 

 African Museum, Cape Town (SAM); University of 

 Bergen, Zoological Museum (UBZM);University of 

 Miami Marine laboratory, (UMML); National 

 Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 

 (USNM); Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 

 Gloucester Point (VIMS); Zoological Museum, 

 Humboldt University, Berlin (ZMHU); Zoological 

 Museum, University of Copenhagen (ZMUC). 



OSTEOLOGY OF FEMALES 



The osteology of Melanocetus was partially de- 

 scribed by Regan (1926, fig. 10), Parr (1930a, 

 fig. 2-5, male only), Regan and Trewavas (1932, 

 fig. 19-28), and Bertelsen ( 1951, fig. 13, 14). In the 

 following account, only those comparative aspects 

 that need amending or that have not previously 

 appeared in the literature are discussed. 



Cranium (Figures 1-9). — The anterior portion of 

 the cranium of Melanocetus is considerably wider, 

 relative to the posterior portion, than in other 

 ceratioids; the distance between the lateral mar- 

 gins of the ethmoid cartilage is nearly equal to the 



Sphenotic 



Posttemporal 



Supraethmoid 



Vomer 



Exoccipital 



EpiotJc 



Lateral ethmoid 



Pterotic 



Pterosphenoid 



Supraoccipital 



Figure l.— Dorsal view of cranium of Melanocetus johnsoni, LACM 32786-1, 75 mm SL. Cartilage stippled, open 



spaces solid black. 



61 



