Description 



The following counts were taken from two specimens from off South Africa and one from 

 the Indian Ocean (42° 03.8' S, 70° 39.9' E). 



D. 16; A. 15-16: P. 11-12; AO 7 + 5; gill rakers 9 (8) -I- 1 + 16 (15), total 24-26; lateralline 

 pores 37; vertebrae ?. 



A large luminous scale at PLO fills the space between PLO and pectoral fin in a 99-mm 

 specimen; about three-fourths of this space is filled in an 84-mm specimen. This luminous scale 

 is composed of short, contiguous, vertically arranged fibers. 



This distinctive species may be readily recognized (as adults) by the very large Dn, the 

 short, deep head, the highly irregular opercular margin, and the very small photophores. The 

 nearest related form is D. metopoclampus, but the two species are separable on the basis of a 

 great difference in preorbital organs and the higher positions of the SAO3 and Pol of D. 

 metopoclampus, at or near the lateral line. 



Size: To about 100 mm. 



Least depth of capture: To 100 m at night in southeastern Pacific Ocean (Craddock and 

 Mead, 1970). 



Distribution: This species was not among the material examined in this study. Craddock 

 and Mead (1970) reported the capture of 37 specimens (15-73 mm) from eight localities along 

 about 34° Sand between about 76° and 91° W. King and Iversen (1962) reported the species 

 from the region of the Equatorial Countercurrent, but I have not been able to examine the 

 specimen or to confirm the identification. Clarke (1973) did not list this species from the 

 immediate area of Oahu, Hawaii. 



Diaphus metopoclampus 



(Cocco, 1829) 



Fig. 117 — Diaphus metopoclampus, male, 49.4 mm. 



Description 



The following data are taken mostly from South African specimens. 



D. 15;A. 15;P. 10-11; AO 6 (5-7) + 6(5-7), total 12 (11-13); gill rakers 8(7-9) -h 1 -I- 14 

 (13-15), total 23 (21-25); lateral line pores 36-37; vertebrae ?. 



As in D. ostenfeldi, the body photophores are notably smaller than in most diaphid species. 

 The short, deep head and the very distinctive preorbital organs, especially the posterior exten- 

 sion of the Vn and its ending in a prominent knob under the latter half of the iris, are like 

 those of no other diaphid fish. 



Size: To about 75 mm. 



Lea,st depth of capture: To about 600 m in daytime in the eastern Pacific Ocean and 

 Indo-Pacific area. 



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