DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 



207 



alveolar groove; no teeth on palatine; eye very large; back occupied by a long dorsal fin, 

 divided in two subequal parts. Anal spines numerous and feeble; a dagger-sliaped spine 

 behind the vent. Caudal well de\cloped, deeply cleft; pectorals moderate, rounded; ven- 

 trals absent; brauchiostegals seven; air-bladder present. Pyloric appendages few.' 



APHANOPUS CARBO, Lowe. (Figure 216.) 



Aphanopm carlo, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud., 1839, 79.— Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Miis., ii, 1860, 343 

 (with description of skeleton).— Challenger Report, xxn, 1887, 37, pi. vii, fig. A.— Caj'ell(i, Join. Sci. 

 Acad., Lisb., vol. l, tab. iv, fig. 4. 



This species has never been described, except in so far as its characters are included 

 in that of the genus. Lowe's original statement concerning it was as follows: 



Of this most curious new genus a single individual only has yet occurred. The whole 

 lish is of a dark coffee color, approaching to black ('uniform black,' says Giinther), and has 

 in form so close a general resemblance to Lepidopus argyrem, that it might well be taken 

 hastily for a mere variety of that fish. 



It has been obtained only from Madeira and the coast of Portugal, where specimens 4 

 or 5 feet long have, in rare instances, as stated by Capello, been caught on the long lines 

 used by the fishermen for the capture of deep-sea sharks. 



" We have no information," writes Giincher, " as to the exact depth at which this fish 

 lives, but there is no doubt that it belongs to the deep-sea tauna. The large eye, the black 

 color of the body, and the thinness of the bones of the head and of the vertebrse, are ad- 

 ditional evidence of the bathybial habits of the fish." 



APHANOPUS MINOR, Collett. 

 Aphanopus minor, Collett, Vidensk. Selsk. Forhandl. Christiania, 1886, No. 19, 3. 



A single specimen of a silvery-gray species of Aphanopxis was taken July 4, 1886, off 

 the east coast of Greenland, lat. 65° N., Ion. 31° W., by Captain Pedersen, of Sandefjord, 

 Norway, who placed it in the University Museum at Christiania. 



The following is Collett's diagnosis : 



Dark silvery or steel-colored. The length of the head is about 2| in the length of the 

 body to the vent; diameter of the eye about 4,^ in the length of the head; 8 long teeth in 

 the intermaxillary, the two foremost " canines" the longest ; S teeth in the lower jaw, a trifle 

 shorter; no teeth in vomer and the palatine bones. Ventrals, none; a strong dagger- 

 shaped spine behind the vent. Air-bladder present ; appendices pyloric;i?., 7. 



Length from tip of snout to the vent (in the single specimen examined) 352 millimeters. 



Radial formula: D. 41. -f ?; A?; B. vn. 



MEASUREMENTS. 



Millimeters. 



Snout to vent ." 352 



Length of head 131 



Length of head to tip of snout 126 



Greatest height of head (above the eyes) 38 



Eye to tip of under jiiw 57 



Length of snout 53 



Diameter of eye 27 



Postorbital part of head 46 



Millimeters. 



Length of intermaxillary 57 



Length of ra.indible 82 



Greatest height of body 48 



Heiglit of body at anus 40 



Distance of vent from anal fin 16 



Distance of eye from nostril 8 



Length of pectoral 50 



' The following is Lowe's diagnosis, as published in 1839 : " Form as in Lepidopus, elongate, much com- 

 pressed, like a sword blade, naked, but with a short keel on each side toward the tail. Muzzle and teeth 

 as in Lepidopus {Gona,\\),h\\% the palatines unarmed. Dorsal fins 2, nearly equal. Anal fin as in Lepi- 

 dopus (but with a strong, sharp spine instead of a scale before it), a little behind the vent. No trace or rudi- 

 ment of ventral tins." 



