DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 99 



physis of the lower Jaw. On the palatiues and possibly upon the pterygoids a few small, 

 sliarp, pointed teeth. Gill opening very wide; the gill rakers long and thin. Preopercnlum 

 rounded. Twelve short branchiostegals; at the base of each of the 8 anterior ones a lumi- 

 nous dot. No pseudobranchi.T?. Gill laminai large. Probably the lower pharyngeal bones 

 covered with teeth similar to those in the jaws, but in several I'ows. The dorsal has its 

 origin nearly midway between the ventral and the anal, and is composed of 13 or 14 rays. 

 Adipose fin thread-like. Ventral in front of the middle of the body (not behind, as stated 

 by Kner) with 7 rays, reaching to the vent. Anal with from 17 to 19 rays, beginning under 

 the last 3 or 4 rays of the dorsal, and the fin similar in height to the dorsal. The cau- 

 dal is equal in length to that of the head from snout to preoperculum, and is strongly 

 forked. Pectoral small, iwinted, and nearly as long as the caudal. The thin, caducous 

 scales with which the body is covered exhibit no radiating lines, simply delicate, concen- 

 tric rings. On either side two longitudinal rows of inconspicuous phosphorescent spots, 

 surrounded with black pigment; the lower row near the line of the belly begins near the 

 throat and ends at the origin of the anal. In the space from the pectoral to the ventral are 

 16 spots ; between the ventral and the anal 11 ; the upper row commences with 2 large 

 spots upon the suboperculum, and continues back to the caudal. Color, dark gray ; the back 

 and belly silvery; all the tins whitish, uniform color. 



Radial formula: D. 13-14; A. 17-19; V. 7. 



This form, described in 1870 by Kner from a single badly damaged specimen taken in 

 the Atlantic, is evidently a true GoHostoma. It closely resembles in many respe(^ts Mauro- 

 Ucus Toiceriw and Maurolicus attenuatus of authors, which seem to have little afQnity with 

 the typical species of Maurolicus. 



We have before us a specimen taken by the Blake from' Station CCXLV, off Havana, at a 

 depth of 243 fathoms. Other specimens were taken by the Blake from Station xliii, off 

 Grenada, at a depth of 461 fathoms ; from Station xliv, otf Grenada, at a depth of 1(51 fath- 

 oms; from Station xlt, in the old Bahama Channel, at a depth of 500 fathoms, and from 

 Station xi,vi, oft" Bequia, at a depth of 458 fathoms. 



CYCLOTHONE, Goode and Bean. 



Cyclothone, GoODE and Bean, Bull. Mus. Conip. Zoiil., 1883, 221 (type, Cycloihonc lii$ca=Gonostoma niicrodon, 



GI'INTHER). 



Neostoma, Vaillant, Exp. Solent. Tr.iTailleiiv et Talisman, 1888, 86 (type, JV". baihyphiJiim). 



Body elongate, somewhat compressed, apparently devoid of scales;* lower parts with 

 inconspicuous series of luminous sjiots, with the latter arranged approximately as in Gono- 

 sioma, but usually much less conspicuous. Head conical, compressed; cleft of mouth very 

 wide, oblique, extending behind the eye. The lower jaw strongly projecting. Maxillary 

 long and slender, sickle-shaped; somewhat dilated posteriorly, but covering only an incon- 

 siderable portion of the cheek. Upper jaw with a single series of needle-like teeth, some 

 of which are enlarged; lower jaw with similar teeth, and in some species with a few canines 

 in front. Teeth on vomer sometimes in patches, sometimes reduced to a single iiair of 

 fangs. Palatine and pterygoid teeth present or absent. Eye moderate, not conspicuous. 

 Gill opening very wide, the membranes free from isthmus. Gill rakers numerous, long and 

 slender. PseudobranchiiB none. Branchiostegals. No air bladder. Dorsal and anal 

 moderate, opposite, the latter much the longer. Adipose fin sometimes jiresent. 



CYCLOTHONE MICRODON, (Gunther), Goode and ISkan. (Figure 114.) 



Gonostoma min-ndon, GfNTHER, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1878, II, 188; Voy. Chall., xxii. 175. — Alcock, 



liatliybial Fishes of the Ray of Bengal, 1869, 25. 

 Cyclothone lusca, GooDE and Bean, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoiil.. x, 1883, 221. — Jordax. Cat. Fish. N. Am., 46. 



Body elongate, its greatest height contained 7§ times in its length to base of middle 



* It is possible that very thiu and exceedingly radncous scales may be present in life, but they are so 

 exceedingly loosely att.ached that not a single one has been found upon hundreds of individuals examined 

 by us, and at all events they arc very different from the more persistent scales of Gonopfiina denudatum. 



