188 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



the preoperculum armed with a spine each. One dor.sal fin, the anterior rays of which are 

 spinous; ventrals with (J soft rays ; pectoral synnnetrical ; caudal deeply forked. {Gibither.) 

 Eight si)ecies of Trachichthys are known, of which one is found in llii; Atlantic, and all 

 of these have been described from floating specimens, presumably originating in the ocean 

 depths. T. infcrmedius, however, was obtained by the ChaUciu/er near New Zealand, at a 

 depth of 275 fathoms, and by the Investigator in the Bay of Bengal, l!72 fathoms; and 

 previously by Hector, off Cape Farewell, New Zealand, in 400 fatlioms. (Hector, Tr. New 

 Zealand lust, vii, 245, pi. xi, tig. IS A. Giinthcr, Challenger Eeport, xxii, 24, pi. v., fig. 

 D. Alcock, Ann. aud Mag. Nat. Hist., 1889 (Nov.), 380. 



TRACHICHYTHYS DARWINII, Johnson. (Figure 207.) 



Trachichthys Darioinii, Johnson, Proc. Zoul. Soc. London, 1866, 311, i>l. xxxii. — QOnthkr, Challenger Report, 



XXII, 25. 

 Trachichthj/8 japoniciis, Steindachner and DOdbrlein, Denkschr. d. k. Akad. d. Wiss., Wien, 1883, xlvii, 



218, pi. II. 



The height is two-fifths of the total length to base of caudal. The head is two- 

 sevenths of the total length. Mouth very large and nearly vertical. Its superior border 

 formed by the styliform intermaxillary, A wide notch at the symphysis of the intermaxil- 

 laries. Maxillary long and stout, dilated below, with a large supplementary striate plate, as 

 iu Beryx. The maxillaiy reaches the vertical from the middlle of the eye. Lower jaw 

 included, its bones strongly and deeply striate. Intermaxillary aud mandible with narrow 

 bands of villiform teeth, the innermost row a Uttle enlarged. Bauds of villiform teeth ou 

 the palate. A small round patch of similar teeth on the vomer. Nostrils close together 

 near the upper anterior part of the orbit, the posterior the larger. Eye nearly round, 

 placed high, but not reaching the profile, its length 4J times in that of the head. Edge 

 of opercle irregularly serrate or sinuous. A spine at the lower end of the suboiiercle. 

 Large, imbricated, striate, bony plates (ten iu the specimen) form a ventral keel extending 

 from the root of the ventral fin to the vent, increasing in size from each e;(l of the series 

 to the middle. Dorsal origin behind the root of the pectoral; nearer the suout than the 

 base of the caudal. The fourth dorsal spine the longest. Soft dorsal higher than spinous, 

 the third and fourth rays longest. A series of large, rough scales, somewhat trapezoidal 

 in shape, at each side of the dorsal aud anal fins. The pectoral does not reach nearly to 

 them, but to the vertical of the seventh dorsal spine. Ventral inserted under root of pec- 

 toral, consisting of a long, stout, striated spine and six branched rays. Caudal deeply 

 forked, membrane between its rays covered with rows of small scales. Lateral line on the 

 upper jiart of the body, not following the curve of the back. 



The head and all the fins are of a bright red color; the back is of brownish red, passing 

 into gray on the sides; the belly is white, tongue black; also the inside of the mouth and 

 gill-covers. Sometimes the inside of the gill-covers is marked with black patches. Palate 

 red. 



Radial formula: D. viii, 14; A. iii, 12; V. i, 6; L. lat., 27. Pyloric ciEca 13. 



This species difters from the Antarctic one in having the bones of head more solid, nar- 

 rower, muciferous; a smalku' eye and the spinous dorsal fin more differentiated from the 

 soft. The scales are small. Abdominal scutes ten. The height of the body is less than 

 half the total length (without caudal); the diameter of the eye two-ninths of the length of 

 the head. No projecting suprascapulary spine. The third and fourth dorsal spiues are 

 the longest, aud the seventh is shorter than the eighth. 



Only one specimen, 19 inches long, was obtained off Madeira in the month of April. Mr. 

 Johnson adds that from the protruded stomach and intiated membrane about the eye, it 

 may be inferred that the fish came from a great depth. Like so many other Madeiran 

 fishes, thiss])ecies occurs also in Japan, where it was met with by Doderlein, who seems to 

 have been uuaccjuainted with Johnson's description, {Giinther.) 



