482 DEEP-SEA IRISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



ther (Challenger Report, xxii, 7o-7(>) has in the most painstaking manner Itrought together 

 a list of the specimens taken in the Xorth Atlantic, as far as they are known to science. 

 He mentions 14 known upon the Scandinavian coasts from 1740 to 18.513; 1!) on the British 

 coasts from 17.50 to 1881; 1 in the Mediterranean (lie states, however, tliat ahont half a 

 dozen specimens have been observed in the Mediterranean); 1 in the Bermudas ; ;> at the 

 Cape of Good Hope; 1 in the Indian Ocean, and 5 oft" the coast of New Zealand. 



He calls attention to the fact that of those obsc^rved on tlu^ I'>ritisli and Scandinavian 

 coasts 4 were observed in the month of January, ~> in l'\'l»ruary, S in March, 2 in ^Vpril, 1 

 in May, 1 in June, 1 in July, - in August, 1 in September, and 1 in October. Ho also calls 

 attention to the fact that l)y far the greater proi)oition of their ca|)tnre, in the Nortliern 

 Hemisphere, at least, is in the stormy season. 



This agrees with what we know of the cai)ture of Trachyiitcrus, w hich likewise seems 

 to be bi'ought to the snrface only by great commotions of the ocean. 



The popular name oi' Regahritit is "oarflsli," in allusion to the blade-like expansion of 

 the extremities of the two ventral fins. Megalecun is also called in the books the " king of 

 the herrings." Strangely enough, no representative of this genns has been found along the 

 coast of North America, except once at the Bermudas. 



Giinther is of the opinion tlutt the distribution of this tish in the depths of tlie sea is 

 the same as that of Travhi/iiferii.s. The similarity in their geograpWcal distribution is quite 

 remarkable. 



Family STYLOPHORID.^. 



(iiiiliiial rulalious doubtl'ul.) 

 Sti/lephoiitiii, SwAlNSoN, Nat. Ili.->t. fishes, IS'3'J, il, 17. 



STYLEPHORUS, Shaw. 

 StiihphoniK, Sil.vw, Tniiis. Linn. Sor. LoniiDii, i, ITlU.iKI. ]>l:ite. 



Ribband-shaiJed tish, having the body elongate, and compressed; the doi'sals extending 

 from the head nearly to the end of the tail; the tail terminating in an exceedingly long, 

 cord-like appendage, abont twice as long as the head. Anal absent. Ventrals absent. 

 Caudal erected upwards, liaving its rays connected by a rather firm membrane. Snout 

 produced; mouth small, toothless; maxillary bones small, short, hidden behind interniax 

 illaries. Mandible long, extending far behind the eye. Eyes large, turned forward; 

 suborbital very large, covering nearly the whole of the cheek and extending backward 

 behind the eye. Opercles small. Gill openings wide; gills 4. Yeiit premedian. Brau- 

 chiostegals 4. 



STYLEPHORUS CHORDATUS, Shaw. ( Figures 393, .39 i . ) 



Sli/lejjkorus ckordatm, Shaw, he. til.; Zoiilogist, iv, S7; Naturalists' Misoollany, viii, pi. cci.xxiv. — Blain- 

 viLLE, Journ. Phys., i.xxxvii, 60 pi. i, fig. 1. — CuviER and Vaij;nciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., x, 381. — 

 GtNTRKK, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., iii, 306. 



Height of body one-lifth of total length (without caudal); length of head one-sixth 

 Eyes large, ch)se together. Pectorals pointed, erected upwards, abont half as long as 

 Lead. Dorsal extending nearly to the eud of the tail. 



Radial formula: D. 110; C. 0; P. 13. 



This remarkable form is known from only a single specimen, 11 inches long, with the 

 caudal apiicndage 22 inches in length, which was taken in the Atlantic, between ('iil)a 

 and Martini((ue, about the year 1700, and is now in the British Museum. It is imdoubtedly 

 an inhabitant of great dejiths. 



