extreme fragility of the photophores, the very excellent condition of several specimens of T. 

 paurolychnus leaves not doubt as to their absence. 



Size: To 95 mm. 



Least depth of capture: Between and 1000 m at night. Davy (1972) reported that this 

 species had not been taken above 900 m and that it did not appear to perform daily vertical 

 migrations. 



Distributions: In the eastern Pacific Ocean (Fig. 132) this species is commonly taken but 

 not in large numbers, no more than two having been taken in one haul. Davy (1972) reported 

 this species from the warmer waters of all oceans. 

 Discussion 



Aside from the lack of head and body photophores, another striking feature of T. 

 paurolychnus is the presence of a pair of nearly transparent, bony, broad-based, and strongly 

 recurved teeth projecting forward from the tip of each premaxillary (Fig. 135). Similar teeth 

 rarely occur in the species T. bathyphilus and T. minimus, but only a few specimens of each 

 species have been found with one or more teeth remaining, either relatively intact or as stubs. 

 If an entire tooth is missing a pit in the bone will indicate its former presence. The highly 

 vulnerable position of these teeth, at the very tips of the premaxillaries, and their sharply 

 pointed and recurved structure, render them easily snagged and broken by the meshes of nets, 

 or by contact with other organisms during capture. 



The probably luminous crescent of whitish opaque tissue on the posterior position of the 

 iris (a differentiating character of the genus Taaningichthys) is more pronounced in this 

 species than in others of the genus (Fig. 136). This crescent is barely or not at all visible in 



Fig. 135 — Ventral view of premaxillary teeth of Taaningichthys paurolychnus. Paired teeth occur at an- 

 teriormost margin of each premaxillary bone. The tooth at left center is intact; the tips of the remaining 

 teeth are missing. The entire tooth is missing on the extreme right (left side of specimen!. 



148 



