DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 203 



branps separate, free from isthmus. Gills four, with a slit behind the fourth. Abdominal 

 and caudal vertebrsB numerous. Pyloric ca;ca in large numbers. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF LEPIDOPID^. 



I. Dorsal coutinuoiis. Teeth on p.ilatines. Ventrals present, scale-like, rudimentary. No post-anal spine 



Lepidoi'IN.k 



A. Body liigh. Head with crest. Teeth in jaws lanceolate in single rows. Pectorals broad, fun-ate. 



Ventrals inserted consideraldy beliind pectorals. 



1. Head rather long, with lateral occipital crests converging anteriorly. Orbit near to profile. 



Maxillary curved and upper jaw shorter than lower Lepidopus 



2. Head rather short, high, compressed above into a trenchant edge. Prolile convex, declivous, far 



from orbit. Mouth somewhat oblique. Maxillary straight. Jaws equal Evoxymetdpon 



B. Body low. Head crestless. Anterior teeth long, compressed, posterior ones acicular; a few minute 



teeth outside of anterior long ones. Pectorals slender, rounded. Ventrals under root of 

 pectorals. 

 1. Head rather long, depressed, with orbits encroaching upon profile. Maxillary curved. Lower 

 jaw projecting Benthodesmus 



II. Dorsal in two subequal portions, closely contiguous. No teeth on palatines. Ventrals absent. A 



dagger-like post-ana Ispine Aphanopin.e 



A. Head long, pointed. Eye very largo, not close to profile. Upper jaw slightly curved, lower slightly 

 projecting Aphanopus 



LEPIDOPUS, Gouan. 



Lepidopus, Gouan, Historia Piscium, 1770, 185.— Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. viii, 218.— 



GuxTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii, 1860, 342; Challenger Report, xxii, 1887, 37. 

 Vandelliits, Shaw, Zoology, iv, p. 199. 

 Ziphotheca, Montagu, Wern. Mem., i, 82, Pis. II-UI; n, 432. 



Body very elongate, band-like, scaleless; head pointed, with lateral occipital crests con- 

 verging anteriorly; cleft of the mouth wide, the jaws being armed with strong lanceolate 

 teeth in a single series, larger ones in front; a series of minute teeth on the margins of the 

 palatines. Nodules obli(iue. Eyes large. Along the whole of the back one single dorsal 

 fin; anal spines numerous, but minute or hidden beneath the skin; no post-anal spines; 

 caudal well developed; ventral fins rudimentary, inserted behind the pectorals. Twopo.st- 

 anal scutes. Eight branchiostegals; air-bladder present. Pyloric cteca .somewhat numer- 

 ous. Type, Lepidopus Gouani, Bl. 



LEPIDOPUS CAUDATUS, (Euphrasen), White. (Figure 213.) 



TfiiliiuruK raudafiifi, EfPiiUASEN, Stbckh. K. Vet. Acad. Nya. Handl., 1788, ix, .".2, Tab. 9, Fig. 2. 

 Lepidopus raudulus, White, List of Brit. Fishes, 1851, 32.— GI-N'ther, Cat. Fish, lirit. Mus. ii, 344 (with 

 exteude<l synonymy). 



Height of the body loj in the total length, the caudal deeply forked. Anal spines in 

 great number — minute, if visible. (Jolor, uniform silvery. 



Eadial formula^-: D. 102-104; A. 24-.5. 



CBec. Pylor. 23. Vertebme 41 + 71. ((Hintlier.) This form has been taken many times 

 during the century, from Norway to South Africa, and the Mediterranean. It exidently lives 

 at considerable depth and comes rarely to the surface. It has not been found in the West- 

 ern Atlantic. A specimen was obtained l)y John Xantus de Vesey at Cape St. Lucas, and 

 the species is also known as the "Frost-fish," about Tasmania and New Zealand, where, 

 according to Lendenfeld, it occurs periodically in great numbers, evidently coming up from 

 the depths to deposit its spawn near the shore.' 



EVOXYMETOPON (Poey) Gill. 



Eroxymclopun, (Poey,) Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 18G3, 228. 



Body very elongate, band-like; head with the supraocular portion compressed into a 

 tieiu-hant edge, and the upper profile abruptly descending towards the end of the snout; 

 eye of moderate size, much below the upper profile. Cleft of the mouth wide; teeth lauce- 



'Zoologischer Anzeiger, 1883, 5.59. 



