148 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



lip; the anterior tubular, the posterior lobed. Vertical aud pectoral fins well developed; 

 caudal rays very short. Teeth iu jaws on cardiform bands subequal in size. Vomer den- 

 tigerous. 



MYRUS PACHYRHYIfCHUS (A^aillant) Jordan and Davis. (Figure 167.) 



Mtinis pachijrhynchtis (Vaill^vnt), Exp. Scieut. Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 11, pi. v, figs. 1, l.i, lb. 

 Echelua pavhiirhynchus, Jordan and Davis, Ioc. cit. 



A Myrus with a short, thick snout, elongate body, and with a comparatively elongate 

 pectoral (its length 2§ in that of head). Origin of dorsal behind tip of pectoral. Length of 

 tail threc-Iifths of total length. Height and thickness of body 33 in total length. Length 

 of snout one-third of total length of the head; diameter of eye and of interorbital space 

 equal to one-fifth of same. Lateral line distinct. Color gray; fins paler. Gill openings 

 black. 



Myrus pachyrhynchus is the abyssal representative, not very remote in its affinities, of 

 Myrus myrus (L.), a well-known Mediterranean form and M. uropterus (Schlegel) from 

 Japan, It has been found ofl' the Morocco coast, 1,050 to 1,435 meters, and also at the (Jape 

 Verdes in 460 fathoms. 



Family NETTASTOMID^E. 

 Nettastomidw, Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888 (1891), 649. 



This family, as understood by us, contains a few species of deep-sea eels closely allied 

 to the Murwnesocidw in technical characters, but more resembling the Nemichilvyulw in 

 appearance, form of the head, and iu dentition. The family, which is a provisional one, may 

 be thus defined. 



Enchelycephalous eels without pectoral fins, with the tongue not free, the posterior 

 nostrils remote from the lip, the gill openings small, separate, and subinferior, the vent 

 remote from the head, the tail ending in a slender tip or filament, the dorsal and anal fins 

 moderately developed, and the jaws produced, slender, and straight, the upper the lunger, 

 and both, as also the vomer, armed with bands of sharp, close-set, recurved, subequal teeth. 



Three genera are known, deep-sea fishes with fragile bodies aud the thin skin charged 

 ■with black pigment. {Jordan and Davis.) 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF NETTASTOMIDiE. 

 [After Jordan and Davis.] 



I. Dorsal fin low, beginning nearly above gill opening. 



A. No.strils nearly superior, the posterior above and in front of eye, the anterior at tip of bony portion 



of snout; bead with numerous uiucous pores. 



1. Snout without a lleshy proboscis, the anterior nostrils near its tip Nettastoma 



2. Snout, with a long, slender, fleshy tip or proboscis, at the Ijase of which are the anterior nostrils 



Venefica. 



B. Nostrils lateral, the posterior slit-like aud placed just in front of eye; snout without fleshy tip. 



Chlopsis 

 NETTASTOMA, Rafinesque. 



Xettastoma, R.winesque, Carattori Alcuui Nuovi Generi, etc., 1810, 66 (type, X'eUastoma melaniira, Hat). 



GiJNTHEK, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., viii, 48.— Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Amer., 54, note. 

 ByoproruH, KOlliker, Vcrhandlung Phys. Med. Gesellsch. Wiirzburg, iv, 1854, 101. 



Body scaleless, with tail tapering into a point. Snout much produced, depressed, 

 its anterior nostrils near its tip and nearly superior, the posterior above and in front of 

 eye. Jaws and vomer with bands of cardiform teeth, those along the median line of the 

 vomer being somewhat the larger. Vertical fins well developed. Doisal conimcnciug 

 behind gill opening; pectorals absent. Air bladder present. Gill openings moderate, 

 {Jordan.) 



Nettastoma jparvieeps, a small-headed species, most resembling N. melanumm, from a 

 specimen 26J inches long, dredged by the ChaUcnger off Japan, in 345 fathoms. (Giinther, 

 Challenger Eeport, xxii, p, 253, pi. lxiii, fig. A.) 



