FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 76, NO. 1 



modified ringlike scales with pores usually 

 situated midway between and not touching the 

 scales (Figure 3). The skin along the dorsal mid- 

 line, above the supracarinalis muscle, is typically 

 split open, exposing dense fat deposits and mucus. 

 Ventrally, the skin overlying the lower hypaxial 

 muscles is also split open. In addition, the area 

 ventral to the heart, between the cleithra, con- 

 tains a mucus-filled network of connective tissue. 

 Testes are thin ribbonlike structures in imma- 

 ture males and become thick and convoluted in 

 mature specimens. The convolutions, however, 

 never become separate lobes (Figure 1). The 

 ovaries, back to about the level of the pelvics, are 

 completely enclosed by ovarian tunic medially and 

 the body wall laterally. Posteriad the lateral ovar- 

 ian surface is exposed. The ovary contains few 

 eggs up to 3.2 mm in diameter. 



Rouleina maderensis Maul 1948 



Figure 2B 



Rouleina maderensis Maul 1948:7, fig. 1 (holotype, 

 MMF 2398, Madeira, 600-1,600 m depth range 

 for type series). 



As a supplement to Maul's (1948) description. 

 Table 1 summarizes important diagnostic meristic 

 characters. In addition, the present material 

 showed the following meristic variation (number 

 of specimens in parentheses): Pj5-7 (13), P25-6 

 without a splint bone (13), gill rakers on first arch 

 [6-8] + 1 + [15-21] = [22-30] (8), branchiostegal 

 rays 6 (12), and pyloric caeca 10-11 (7). Dentition 

 similar to R. attrita. 



Lateral line scales were absent in the two 

 specimens <131 mm SL but were present in a 

 177-mm SL specimen. Photophores were present 

 on the smallest specimen, 86.7 mm SL. Generally, 

 photophores are more difficult to find in larger 

 specimens. 



Black papillae are distributed along the base of 

 the caudal, on primary caudal rays, dorsal and 

 anal rays, on the supratemporal, and from the 

 interorbital area to the snout. An irregularly ar- 

 ranged row of papillae lies between the lateral line 

 and dorsal profile. Small flat photophores are 

 mostly located below the lateral line; a paratype 

 (MMF 50) has nine photophores along the anal fin, 

 two on the base of the lower caudal and one or two 

 on the upper caudal base; body photophores are 

 arranged approximately in quincunx. The super- 



ficial layer of black skin covers longitudinally 

 aligned, fluid-filled, oblong, dermal compartments 

 and is frequently split along the midline as in /?. 

 attrita. The modified ringlike lateral line scales 

 have a relatively broad and long posterior tab. 

 Lateral line pores are usually at the end of the 

 scale tab of the preceding lateral line scale, ap- 

 proximately midway between scales but touching 

 the anterior scale. 



Testes, even when immature, are always lobed 

 (Figure 1). The ovary is similar to that in R. at- 

 trita. Eggs are large, up to 3.7 mm. 



Incerta sedis 



Anomalopterus megalops Beebe 1933 



An examination of Beebe's damaged and con- 

 torted holotype (USNM 170957), now about 25 

 mm SL, indicates that it might be a Rouleina. The 

 dorsal and anal origins appear approximately op- 

 posite in contrast to Beebe's ( 1933) statement that 

 the anal origin was under the middle of the dorsal. 

 The "numerous small tubercles" which Beebe 

 found abundant on the head and less so on the body 

 are no longer visible. Beebe's (1933) description, 

 the best source for deciphering the identity of the 

 specimen, agrees with Rouleina, especially R. 

 maderensis. However, the seven branchiostegal 

 rays and anal fin extending well posteriad of the 

 end of the dorsal fin are characters which are un- 

 known in the available North Atlantic Rouleina. 

 Identification of this specimen should be post- 

 poned until more larval and juvenile material are 

 available. 



ECOLOGY 



Direct sighting of two R. attrita <1 m from the 

 bottom at 1,800 m off Virginia was made during 

 DSRV Aluin dive 575, 4 June 1975. The 

 moderate-sized individuals had a more rounded 

 head than the more commonly sighted alepoceph- 

 alid, Alepocephalus agassizii. The dorsal and ven- 

 tral profiles of the snout and lower jaw regions are 

 approximately equal arcs in /?. attrita (Figure 2A), 

 while in A. agassizii the ventral profile of the 

 lower jaw is straighter. The skin of/?, attrita also 

 appears smoother since it is mostly scaleless, but 

 both are about equally black in situ. 



An unexpected observation was that the two/?. 

 attrita had shredded sheets of mucus hanging from 

 their jaws and body. The two individuals drifted 



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