182 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



an appendix to liis great work, Yaillant expresses the o])inion tliat he had erred in forming 

 a new genus, and tliat it belongs i)roi)erly to MclamplKics, of(riinther. 



Scop<'logadii.s is well distinguished from botli Mdamphuvn and from Flcctroniux by vari- 

 ous cliaraeters, most prominent of wliich are the sliort liead, comparatively small mouth, 

 rudimentary eye, and short dorsal and anal tins, which overlap to the extent of nearly a 

 third of the 1 ength of each. 



SCOPELOGADUS COCLES, Vailijvnt. (Figure 199.) 



Seopelogadns codes, Valliant, Exp. Sci., Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 143, pi. xxvi. 



Height of body one-fourth of total length (without caudal); length of head three- 

 tenths. Eye minute, rudimentary. Length of the maxillary half the length of the head; 

 length of pectoral equal to that of the head, its tip extending far behind the vent and to 

 the vertical from the base of the antepenultimate dorsal ray; length of the ventral about 

 half that of the jjectoral, its tij) not reaching to the vent. Scales large, about 21 in the 

 longitudinal series — 2 above and 4 below. Dorsal placed midway between the snout and 

 the base of tlie upper caudal rays (not the an tecedent rudimentary spines). Origin of the 

 anal under the base of the preantepenultimate dorsal ray, the dorsal overlapping it nearly 

 one-half of its length. 



Radial formula: D. 12; A. 8+ ; V. 10. 



A long description, accompanied by several figures of anatomical details, is given by 

 Yaillant. The species was described from four specimens obtained on the Banc D'Arguin 

 at depths of from 1,090 to 1,250 meters, and off the (Jape Verde Islands at 3,655 meters. 



MALACOSARCUS, Glinther. 

 Malacosarcus, GDnther, Challenger Epport, xxii, 30. 



Head large and thick, with bones very thin, and with wide and deep muciferons cavi- 

 ties; also the canal along the lateral line is much distended. Cleft of the mouth wide, 

 obliquely descending backwards, with jaws nearly equal in front. A narrow baud of villi- 

 form teeth in both jaws; palate toothless. Eight branchiostegals, psoudobranchia' present. 

 The edges of the preoperculum and the lower edge of the mandible with minute and 

 distant spines. Scales extremely thin, not sculptured, deciduous, irregular, and of moderate 

 size. One dorsal; caudal emarginate, with broad basal fold above and below; anal spines 

 very feeble. Ventrals small, five-rayed, inserted at some distance behind the pectorals. 

 Gills four; gill-lamina' short; gdl rakers long, needle slia])ed. (Gii)ither). 



Although this fish is only a degraded torm of Jlclamphacs, Giinther decided to make it 

 the type of a distinct genus, since otherwise the generic definition of Melamphnes would 

 lose much in precision. 



This peculiar genus is represented by the single species M. macrosioma, Giinther (Ann. 

 and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1878, vol. ii, p. 180; Challenger Eeport, Vol. xxii, p. 30), obtained in 

 the mid-Pacific, GhaUenger station 271, at a (h'pth of 2,425 fathoms, 3J inches long; aiid 

 near the Low Archipelago, station 270, at a depth of 2,350 fathoms, 3i inches long. No 

 vestige of it has yet been found in the Atlantic. 



POROMITRA, Goode and Bean. 



Poromiira, Goode and Bean, Bull. M. C. Z., x, 1883, 214. — Guntiier, ChalltMiger Report, xxii, 34. 



Body short, comjiressed, scopeliforin, covered with thin, cycloid scales. Head very 

 large, nearly half the entire length of the fish to base of caudal, with scales upon cheeks, 

 suboperculum, and probably elsewhere. No barbel. Mouth very large, the lower jaw 

 projecting. Margin of upper jaw composed of a sliort intermaxillary and a long maxillary. 

 Teeth cardiform, numerous, very small, on the intermaxillaries and mandil)lcs: none dis- 

 covered on maxillaries, palatines, or vomer. Opercular apparatus complete. 



Dorsal fin in the middle of the body, its origin not far behind that of the ventrals, the 

 spinous and soft portions subequal in length. Anal much shorter than dorsal, its middle 



