292 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



of large, pointed teeth, some of the anterior ones very hirge and iuoval)le; vomerine teeth, 

 none; palatines with teeth similar to those in the jaws. Gi'.ls, 4. Ciill-openings very wide, 

 with membranes slightly joined to isthmus. Pseudobrauehias none. Dorsal flus, two; anal, 

 single; ventrals inserted below pectorals, with live soft rays. Tail notisoeereal, truncate at 

 base of caudal. Caudal forked. 



CIIIASMODON NIGER, Johnson. (Figures 264, 264 A.) 



Chiasmn<h)ii iii;icr, .Johnson, Proc. Zoiil. Soc, 186H, 4(18. — Jokkan and (iiLiinuT, luc. cil. 



Chiasmodim niii,cr, GiiNTiiEU, op. cit., 435; Proc. Zoiil. Soc, 1866, 38; Challenger KepDrt, xxii, 1887, 90. — Caii- 

 TEi!, Proc. Zoiil. Soc, 1866, 35-3'J, ])1. ii. 



Head compressed, elongate, the crown Hat, its depth less than half its length, which is 



two-sevenths tliat of the body; maxillary reaching angle of opercnliini; both jaws armed 



with long, pointed wide-set teeth, nearly all of which are movable; two anterior teeth of 



upper jaw very long, crossing each other when dei)ressed; three anterior pairs of teeth in 



lower jaw likewise prolonged, the third i)air the longest ; palatines with a longer, fixed 



tooth in front. Pjye moderate, above the anterior jjart of maxillary, 4.J in head, shorter 



than snout, as wide as interorbital space. Lateral line in a longitudinal groove. First 



dorsal of slender rays, its base 2;^ in that of second dorsal ; anal commencing behind second 



dorsal, its auterior rays without connecti(jn with vertebral column; posterior rays of anal 



and dorsal very feeble; pectoral as long as head without snout; ventral half as long as 



pectoral. 



Eadial formula: 1). xi, 28; A. 27; P. 13; V. 5. 



Color, entirely black, {(riiiithcr.) 



The first specimen of this remarkable fish was obtained at Magdalena (Madeira), at a 

 depth of 312 fathoms, in 1850, by Lowe, who, however, omitted to give a description of it. 

 The species was rediscovered vit tlie same locality by Johnson twelve years later. A third 

 si)ecimeu was picked up from the surface, near the island of Dominica. A fourth exami)le 

 was obtained by the Challenger in mid- Atlantic, at station 107, in 1500 fiithoms, on August 

 26, 1873. A fifth was obtained by the U. S. National Museum from ( 'apt. Thomas P. Ilodg- 

 don of the Gloucester schooner Bcsisie W. Somcrs. It was found ou Le Have Bank, floating 

 on the surface, in June, 1880. 



It is evidently an inhabitant of very great depths. 



PSEUDOSCOPELUS, Lutken. 



Peeiidoscopehis, Lutken, Spolla Atlantica (2), 1892, 65; Vul. Sclsk. Skr. (6) Natiirv. Og. Math., Afd. 1$. ii (6), 

 1892, 285, pi. 1, figs. 3, 4, 5. 



Body fusiform, scaleless. Mouth and gill-openings very large. Eyes moderate and 

 mouth with slender teeth turned inward and placed close together. Ventral fins subtho- 

 racic. The first dorsal short; second dorsal as long as the anal. Prominent and conspicu- 

 ous lines of pores along the upper jaw and mandible; also a second line of pores in front 

 of the ventral fins; another line of pores unites the base of the ventrals and runs down 

 the inner ventral ray ou either side. The median line of pores divides into two in front 

 of the vent and passes on either side of the anal fin, terminating at its posterior extremity. 

 A short median line on the under.side of body in front of the root of caudal. The lateral 

 line runs almost directly from the uijper angle of the gill-openiug to the base of the caudal, 

 curving slightly upward. 



PSEUDOSCOPELUS SCRIPTUS, LCtken. (Figure 266.) 

 Pseudoacopehia smi)tua, Lijtken, Spolia Atlantica, (2) 1892,284, 285. 



This is a little fish with the ordinary fish sluxpe, whose greatest height (1.5 millimeters) 

 is contained 5i times in the total length (82 millimeters, caudal included), the length of the 

 bead, the form of which shows no peculiarity, scarcely 4 times. The fine skin was evi- 

 dently altogether scaleless. The gill cavities are comjiaratively large; tiie gill mem])rane, 

 however, is not free from the isthmus in front. The upper jaw, which is formed by the in- 



