500 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF TUE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



HALIEUTELLA, Goodeand Bean. 



Ilalieuiella, Goodk and Bean, I'roc. Biol. ,Soc. ^Vashingt(m, ii, 1882, 88. 



Body maltlieiform, subcircular, depressed, its width equal to its length; covered witli 

 tlaccid, inflatable skin. Spines feeble and less numerous than iu Halieuta'a. Head merged 

 iu body; forehead with a transverse bony ridge; no perceptible supraoral cavity; no ten- 

 tacle. Mouth small, terminal; lower jaw slightly curved forward. Teeth iu the jaws 

 minute, cardiform; not discernible on palate, though possibly present. Carpus broad, 

 slightly exserted. Pectoral fins remote from tail, obliquely placed, with membranes sub- 

 vertical. Branchial aperture posterior to carpus, upon the disk, and not remote from its 

 margin. Gills 2 J. Teeth on palate. Dorsal fin 5-rayed, inserted at junction of disk with 

 caudal peduncle. Anal fin 4-rayed, originating at root of caudal peduncle. 



HALIEUTELLA LAPPA, Goode aud Bkax. (Figures 412, A, B.) 



Halicutella lappa, Goode aud Bean, loc. cit. 



Disk subcircular, more than two-thirds as long as the body. Body covered with a 

 loose, flaccid, inflatable skin, which so obscures its proportions that it is impossible to de- 

 termine its exact height, but it is not nearly so much depressed as in the related genera. 

 When the body is inflated tln^ height and length of the disk are nearly equal. 



Sjunes rather feeble ; about 10 between snout and dorsal flu. About (> strong spines, with 

 conicalbases and stellular tips on the outer margin of the disk on each side, the anterior 

 of them being opposite the eye. Iu front of these spines on the discal margin, and between 

 them and the snout, are several small, simple spines, pointing backward. Bellj^ armed 

 with spines similar to those on the back, but weaker. A stellate spine upon the tip of the 

 snout, with two weaker, simple spines on each side. Nasal openings midway between eye 

 and tip of snout. Mouth small, upon the margin of the disk. The upper jaw is shorter than 

 the diameter of the eye. Teeth as described in the generic diagnosis. Dorsal fin inserted 

 at posterior limit of disk, with five simple, articulated rays, its longest ray one-fifth as long 

 as the disk. Anal flu with four simple, articulated rays, inserted directly beneath the 

 fourth ray of the doi-sal; its second, aud longest, ray one-fourth as long as the disk. Caudal 

 twice as long as anal, and slightly longer than caudal peduncle, with nine simple, articu- 

 lated rays. Carpus inserted at a distance from the snout equal to twice the length of the 

 longest pectoral ray, whi<!h is slightly greater than the distance of posterior margin of 

 carpus, at its junction with disk, from vent. Number of pectoral rays, 15. Ventral in- 

 serted at a point equidistant from the snout and the origin of the anal ; length of its longest 

 ray (the fourth) equal to one-half the distance of the anal flu from the snout. 



Eadial formula: D. 5; A. 4; C. 9; P. 15; V. 5. 



Color,-yellowish white. 



A single specimen, 1 J inches long, was dredged by the TJ. S. Fish Commission steamer 

 Fish Hawk at station 1151, N. lat. 39o 58' 30", W. Ion. 70° 37', iu a depth of 125 fathoms. 



DIBRANCHUS, Peters. 



Viiranchite, Peters, Mouatsbericlite, Koiiig. Akad. "Wiss., Berlin, 1875-'76, 736, (tj^ie, D. (it!a»licus, Peters). — 



GiLU Pioc. U. S. Nat. Mus., i, 231. 

 Haliciifaa, (part) Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., iii, 467. — Jordan aud Gilhekt, Bull, xvi, U. S. Nat. Mus., 851. 



Maltheids with head merged in body, very large, much depressed, forming a broadly 

 ovate disk, with margin prolonged laterally to a greater extent than in the allied genera. 

 Cranial portion of disk not elevated. Interorbital area low, narrow, with orbits partly 

 superior. Supra-oial cavity large, protected above by transverse bony ridge. 



Mouth terminai, horizontal, wide; lower jaw convex, teeth in cardiform bands upon 

 jaws; vomer and palatines edentulous. 



Branchite 2, the first and fourth arches without lamellte, the fourth arch inconspicu- 

 ous. Branchial apertures small, anterior to pectoral and upon disk. 



