DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 1S9 



HOPLOSTETHUS, Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



BoploDtethiis, Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 1829, 4G9, pi. 97, bis.— GOnther, Cat. Fish. 



Hrit. Mns., i, 9. — Jordan and Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. SIus., 158. 

 Trachichtlijis (in parti, Lowe, Fishes of Madeira, 55. 



Body deep, compressed. Scales moderate, somewhat ctenoid; lateral line present, its 

 scales enlarged ; abdomen witli a series of bony plates, each ending in a retrorse sx^ine. 

 Head large, deeper than long, with very eonsi)icuous muciferoxis cavities, covered by thin 

 skin. Eye very large. Month very wide, oblique; the jaws equal when it is closed. Jaws 

 and palatines witii tine, villiform teeth; voim^r toothless. A strong spine at the angle of 

 the preopercle; the long vertical limb of the preopercle finely serrated. Gill membranes 

 separate, free from the isthmus. Dorsal fin single, sliort, the spines graduated, (5 in num- 

 ber; anal with 3 graduated spines; caudal forked, its rudimentary rays spinous; pectorals 

 symmetrical, rather long; ventrals i, 6, rather short. Air bladder simple. Pyloric caca 

 numerous. Vertebrje 11+15. 



HOPLOSTETHUS MEDITERRANEUS, Cuvier aud Valenciennes. (Figure 208.) 



Hoplostethmt mediterraneua, Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 469, pi. xcvii. — Guichenot, 

 Explor. Alger. Poiss., 42. — Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit Mus., i, 9; Auu. and .Mag. Nat. Hist., 1878, i, 

 485. — Jordan and Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. N.~M., 458. — Morbau, Hist. Nat., Poiss. de la France, ii, 322. — 

 Steindachner, Denkschr. d. k. Akad. d. Wiss. Wion, 1883, XLVii, 218, pi. i. 



Trachichthijs speciosim, Lowe, Proc. Zool. .See, London, 1889, p. 77; Fishes of Madeira, 55, pi. ix. 



Hoplostethus japonkus, IIilgkndore, Sitzungsb. Gesellsih. Naturf. Freuude, Berlin, 1879, 78. 



Eye large, its diameter longer than snout, and about one-third the length of the head. 

 Abdominal plates 9 to 1.3 in number. Body above with very small roughish scales ; sides in 

 young nearly or quite naked (example seen) ; scaly In the adult. Pectorals reaching first 

 soft ray of anal; ventrals to vent; fins rather low. Color silvery, rosy in life; fins scarlet, 

 peritoneum and inside of mouth black. 



Kadial formula: D. vi, 12-1.1; A. in, 8-11 ; V. i, 6; L. lat. 28^1. 



Specimens of this species have been discovered at distant intervals of time at consid- 

 erable depth (the precise depth is not known) in the western parts of the Mediterranean, 

 oft' Madeira, and recently also in the sea of Japan. Dr. Hilgendorf was of opinion that 

 he c<mld specifically distinguish Japanese specimens by a somewhat larger number of ab- 

 dominal scutes. This would have been a character insignificant enough, even if the Ja])au- 

 ese specimens had not sometimes the same number of scutes as the Mediterranean. A 

 more important difference seems to be the structure of the scales, which I find in Jai)ancse 

 specimens, on the whole, less strongly ctenoid than the Madeiran. But even in this respect 

 there is no constancy in specimens from either of the two localities. {Oilnther.) 



Specimens have been obtained by the Albatross as follows : From station 212.5, in 11° 43' 

 N. lat., 09° 09' 30" W. Ion., at a dei)th of 208 fatlioms; station 2370, in 29° 03' 15" N. lat., 

 88° 16" W. Ion., at a depth of 324 fathoms; Cat. No. 35656, U. S. N. M., from station 2232, 

 in 38° 37' 30" N. lat., 73° 11' W. Ion., at a depth of 243 fathoms, and Cat. No. 35414, U. 

 S. N. M., from station 2176, in 39° .32' 30" N. lat., 72^ 21' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of .302 

 fathoms. Also by the Fish Hatch as follows : Cat. No. 28879, U. S. N. M., from station 1026, 

 in 390 50' 30" N. lat., 71° 23' W. Ion., at a depth of 182 fathoms; Cat. No. 28906, U. S. N. 

 M., from station 1025, in 39° 49' N. lat., 71° 25' W. Ion., at a depth of 216 fatlioms; Cat. 

 No. 29052, U. S. N. M., from station 1045, in 38° 35' N. lat., 73° 13' W. Ion., at a depth of 

 312 tathoms; Cat. No. 30277, U. S. N. M., from station 098, in 39° 43' N. lat., 71° 32' W. 

 Ion., at a depth of 302 fathoms, and Cat. No. 26726, U. S. N. M., from station 897, in 37° 25' 

 N. lat., 74'3 18' W. Lon., at a depth of 157* fathoms. 



HOPLOSTETHUS ATLANTICUS, Collett. 

 Boplostethua atlanticus, Collett, Bull. Soc. Zoiil, France, 1889, 306. 



Height of body contained 2.7 times in the total length (caudal included); length of 

 head 3 times. Diameter of the eye a little greater than the length of the snout; contained 



