DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 109 



ECHIOSTOMA BARBATUM, Lowe. (Figure 130.) 



Echiostoma barbatuin, Lowe, Proc Zoi'il. Soc. Londmi, 1843, 87. — GOntheu, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mns., v, 427; 



Voyage Challenger, xxit. 206, pi. i.iii, lig. b.— Goode and Bean, Bull. Esses. Inst., 1879, 23. — Jordan 



andGiLBEKT, Bull. 16, V. S. N. M., 287. 

 Uypcrchoristus Tanncri, Gill, Proc. U. S. N. M., vi, 1883, 236. ^Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Am., 1S85, 41. 



Black, with an elougate, club-shaped (phosphorescent) rosc-colorcd spot between the 

 maxillary and the eye. Barbel us long as head (in specimen seen), fringed at its tip. 

 "Upper ray of pectoral produced in a long and slender filament, reaching nearly to the 

 root of the ventrals" (wanting in s]jecimens examined). Ventrals narrow, elongate. Head 

 6 in length ; depth 9. 



Eadial formula: B. 12; D. 12-15; A. 17; P. 1+3; V. 8. 



Until in 1879 a specimen of this species (No. 22364, U. S. N. M.), was brought in by one 

 of the Gloucester fishing vessels, this form was known only from Madeira, where a speci- 

 men 13 J inches long was taken in a net close to the shore, prior to 1843, when it was 

 described by Lowe. Since 1879 numerous specimens have been obtained : two by the Blalte, 

 from Stations cxxxvi and cxxxvii, in the old Bahama Channel, at a depth of 500 fathoms; 

 and others by the Albatross, No. 35G24, U. S. N. M., from station 2236, in 39° 11' N. lat., 

 72° 08' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of 636 tathoms; No. 33444, U. S. N. M. (type of Hypercho- 

 risttis Tanncri, GiU), from station 2083, in 40° 26' 40" N, lat., 67° 05' 15" W. Ion., at a depth 

 of 959 fathoms. 



ECHIOSTOMA MARGARITA, Goode and Bean, n. s. (Figure 131.) 



The length of the individual to base of the caudal is 393 miUimeters (13i inches). The 

 greatest depth of the body, 51 millimeters, equals the length of tlie head and is contained 

 nearly 8 times in the total length. A stout barbel is situated at a distance of 23 millime- 

 ters from the tip of the lower jaw; its length, 28 millimeters, is somewhat more than one- 

 half the length of the head; at the extremity this barbel is divided into six fringes, one of 

 which is whitish; a whitish band on the barbel near the root of the fringes. There are 

 about 31 teeth on each side of the maxilla, and 36. on each side of the mandible; none of 

 the teeth in the jaws being enlarged. The vomer has a pair of depressible fangs on the 

 right side and a siHjfle one on the left. There are 5 depressible teeth on each palatine. Lin- 

 gual teeth in about four rows. The largest teeth in the jaws are scarcely more than 2 mil- 

 limeters long. 



The length of the upper jaw; 40 millimeters, is four-fifths the length of the head. The 

 mandible, 48 millimeters, is nearly as long as the head. The diameter of the eye, 8 milli- 

 meters, equals the length of the snout and is one-fifth as long as the upper jaw. The man- 

 dible projects beyond the upper jaw when the mouth is closed a distance equal to one-half 

 the lengtli of the eye. Nostrils about midway between the eye and the tip of the snout. 

 The gill laininai arc all well di^veloped and increase in size backwards, not entirely con- 

 cealed by the opercular bones. The gill rakers consist of minute scattered spines. 



The distance of the vent from the base of the caudal, <i4 millimeters, is contained 6^^ 

 times in the total length. The anal begins immediately behind the vent and extends nearly 

 to the base of the tail. The dorsal is immediately over the anal. The origin of the ventral 

 is 211 millimeters from the tip of the snout and 109 millimeters from the base of the caudal. 

 The sixth and longest ray of the ventral, 43 millimeters, is five-sixths the length of the head. 

 Tiie pectorals of both sides have been torn off. Two rows of minute xihosphorescent dots 

 similar to those in U. barbatiim and similarly situated. A pearl-colored spot above the 

 maxilla, beginning at the hind margin of the eye; its length about two-thirds that of the eye; 



Radial formula: D.18; A. 24; V. 7; P.O. 



Color very ilark, extending even inside of the mouth. 



On the 13th of March, 1885, the steamer Albatross trawled a large specimen oi Echio- 

 stoma at station 2394, N. lat. 28° 38' 30", W. Ion. 87° 02', in 420 fathoms (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 

 392S2) ; this locality is about in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. The single example taken 

 is in bad condition, but it is named and described here simply to call attention to its exist- 



