DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AXD THEIR DISTKIBUTION. 149 



NETTASTOMA MELANUEUM, Eatinesqde. 



Netlastoma melanura, Rafixesque, Caratteri, 1810, 66, pi. x\l, fig. 1.— Kalp, Apodes, 119, fig. 75.— Gunther, 

 Cat. Fish. Brit. Mu8., vm, 48.— Challenger Report, xxii, 253.— DOdkhlkix, Att. Ace. Soc, 1877, 58.— 

 GiGLiOLi, Elenco, 1880, 47.— ViNclGfERRA, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genoa, 18S3, 585.— Vau-Laxt, Exp. Scient. 

 Travailleur et Talisman, Poissons, 83, pi. v, figs 2, 2a, 2b. 



Miiiaiiiiiihis saija, Rlsso, Iehth.,Niee, 1810, fig. 39. 



Hyuprorus messinensis, KoLLiKER, Joe. cif. — Vaillant, oj>. cit., 95. 



A Xettastoma, with stout upper jaw, slightly projeftiuij beyond the lower and without 

 prominent cutaneous flap; with mouth cleft not extendino- behiud the vertical from the orbit. 

 Teeth strong. Tail threetifths the length of the body. Diameter of the eye three-tweu- 

 tieths the length of the head. Fins margined, with black posteriorly. 



This form is found iu the western Mediterranean, where it has not yet been traced to 

 any considerable depth. It doubtless is more common in the deep than in the shallow 

 waters, for its bathybial distribution has been demonstrated in adjoining Atlantic waters. 



Nettantoma brevirostris, Facciola (Natmalista Siciliauo, vi, 1887, 166, pl.iii, tig. 3) is 

 apparently a closely allied form. 



Vaillant believes that he has recognized, in two small individuals of 95 and 142 milli- 

 meters, respectively, the young of Nettastovia, and probably of this species, and dissents 

 from the views of those ichthyologists who regard the Leptocej)halus form — Hyoprorus mes- 

 sinensis — as the young, or transformed, Xettastoma. 



VENEFICA, Jordan and Davis. 

 Fenefica, Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888 (1891), 651. 



Closely allied to I^ettastoma, but with snout prolonged in a slender fleshy proboscis, with 

 the anterior nostrils at its base. The type is W. procentm, Goode and Bean. 



VENEFICA PEOCERA, (Goode and Beax), Jordan and Davis. (Figure 168.) 



Neitaftoma procerum, Goode and Bean, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoiil., x, 1883, 224. — Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Am. 



1885, 55. — GtiNTHER, Challenger Keiiort, .\xii, 253. 

 Venejica procera, Jordax and Davis, Ioc. cit. 



A Xittastoma with body very elongate, compressed, tapering to a very slender atten- 

 uate point; its greatest height contained nearly 4 times in the distance from the gill open- 

 ing to the tip of the lower jaw, and equals half the length of the snout. Head slender, 

 conical; jaws somewhat depressed; the upper jaw heavier and thicker, and projecting 

 beyond the lower a distance equal to the diameter of the eye. Length of snout equals the 

 distance from the posterior margin of the orbit to the gill opening ; the cleft of the mouth 

 extends behind the eye to a distance equal to the diameter of the orl)it. On each side of the 

 upper jaw, and in advance of the eye, are twelve pores; behind each eye are three pores, 

 while on the median, line, on the top of the upper jaw, are several pores posteriorly arranged 

 in pairs, of which there are four, the ultimate pair being between the posterior nostrils. 

 There is also a pair of pores upon tlie nape, connecting the postorbital rows, and seventeen 

 on each side of the mandible. The mandibulary series is continued by another series 

 extending over the cheeks and nape. The snout is provided with a slender, filamentous tip, 

 whose length is equal to twice the diameter of the eye. The tongue is apparently absent in 

 the specimens examined by us. The teeth are arranged as in X. mchtniifum, but exceed- 

 ingly small, and much less conspicuous than in the figures of Kaup and Eisso. 



Dorsal fln commences above the gill opening. 



The anal fin is inserted uiuler the seventy-third dorsal ray at a distance from the snout 

 equal to 3'3 times the length of the head. The tail is twice as long as the body, head included. 

 The total length of the specimen is 727 millimeters, includiug the nasal tip, which measures 

 7 millimeters. 



Lateral line highly specialized, with numerous pores, corresponding in general charac- 

 ter to those upon the head, and arranged iu a deep fiurow, their distances apart being about 



