DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 139 



very narrow bands, villiform, n dense cluster on the vomer. Length of head equal to that 

 of the trunk. Tail about twice as long as body. Dorsal beginning far in advance of gill 

 opening and pectoral. Color yellowish; blackish on termination of tail. 



Specimens were obtained by the Albatross at stations 2121 and 2122, iu 31 to 34 fath- 

 oms, and at station 2402, in 111 fathoms; also by the Blake at station ccLxrv, in 84 fathoms. 



COLOCONGER, Alcock. 



Coloconger, Alcock, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov. and Dec, 1889, 456. 



Snout and tail very short. Muscular and osseous systems well developed. Four gills, 

 which communicate vdt\\ the pharynx by wide slits. Gill openings separate. Heart situ- 

 ated immediately behind the giUs. Eyes large. Posterior nostril superior. Cleft of mouth 

 wide, extending beyond the middle of the eye. Tongue free. Teeth in a single continuous 

 ridge in each jaw; none on the vomer. No scales. Vertical fins well developed, confluent; 

 the dorsal begins above the root of the pectoral. Pectorals well developed. 



This genus contains one species, Coloconger raniccps, Alcock (loc. cit.), taken by the Iti- 

 vestigator in the Andaman Sea, off Koss Island, in from 205 to 271 fathoms. 



PROMYLLANTOR, Alcock. 



Promyllantor, Alcock, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., sixth series. Vol. 6, p. 310. 



A genus allied to Congromura'iia, with body stout, with the muscular and osseous 

 systems well developed. Tail about as long as the trunk. Muciferous cavities of the head 

 well developed. Eye rather small.  Cleft of the mouth narrow, not extending behind the 

 middle of the eye. Villiform teeth in broad bands in the jaws and in a broad, confluent 

 patch on the palate. Tongue fi-ee. iSTostrils lateral. Gill openings widely separate; four 

 gills with wide clefts. No scales. Pectoral and vertical fins well developed, the latter 

 confluent. The dorsal begins some distance behind the occiput. 



The genus is known from one species, P. purpureiis, Alcock, from 1,000 fathoms in the 

 Arabiaij Sea, by the Investigator at station 104. 



Family SIMENCHELYID.<E. 



Simenchelyidoe, Gill (with Goode and Bean), Bull. Essex Inst., v, 11, 27, 1879; Standard Nat. Hist., iii, 

 107, 1885; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xiii, 1890, 239 (No. 817).— Jordan, Rep. Com. Fish., 1885, v, 13, 844 

 (Sep., p. 56, 1885), 1887.— Jordan and Davis, Rop. U. S. F. C, 1888 (1891), 669. 



Simenehehjina; J<irdan .and Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. Am., 357, 1882. 



Apodal fishes with snout blunt; anterior, transverse mouth; jaws massive and teeth 

 blunt, uniserial, on edge of jaws only; no teeth on vomer, gill oiienings horizontal, inferior, 

 moderately separated. 



SIMENCHELYS, Gill. 



Simenchclys, Gill (with Goode and Bean), Bull. Essex Inst., xi, 1880, p. 27. 

 Conchognatlms, Collett, Bull. S<>c. Zool. France, 1889, 122. 



Body eel-like, with a short, blunt snout and an eel-like tail. The branchial apertures 

 are short logitudinal slits on each side of the throat below the pectorals, which are well 

 developed ; the dorsal commences about a head's length behind the pectorals, the anal con- 

 siderably in advance of the second half of the total length. The .skin has scales like those 

 of AngviUo, linear, scattered, and dis])osed at right angles to each other. The liead is very 

 short; the premaxillaries and maxillaries of each side consoUdated into a single piece and 

 separated from that of the ojjposite side by the ethmoid, and )>rovided with lamelliform 

 ])osterior margin and an expanded antero-terminal i)rocess; mandible very deep; teeth 

 blunt, uniserial; the operculum saber-shaped. 



SIMENCHELYS PARASITICUS, Gill. (Figure 161.) 



Simenchcliit paraKiticus, Gir.L (with GooDE and Bean), Fish. Essex Co. & Mass. Bay, 1879, 27. — Jordan and 

 GiUiERT, Bull. XVI, U. S.Nat. Mus., 363. — GfNTHER, Challenger Report, xxii, 252. — Gill, loc. cit. — Jor- 

 dan & Davis, loc. cit. — Conchognatlms Grimaldii, Collett, Bull. Zool. Soc. France, 1889, 122. 



Head blunt, rounded, bulldog-like in aspect; angle of mouth midway between the tip 



