DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 177 



"The fisliernieu afiirm coireetly that this superior degree of Avliiteuess when first cap- 

 tured is coustant iu this species, their Al/onsiii d casta cumprlda, as compared with B. 

 decadacti/lus, Cuv., their Alfonsin d casta larga, which is from the first more generally 

 scarlet or high colored. It is also remarkable that the i)ale-colored mouth is characteristic 

 of the outwardly richer colored species; while iu the paler, ii. 47>/e«rfeHS, the mouth inter- 

 nally is full bright red." 



Radial formula: D. IV, 13-15. A. IV, 25-29. V. I, 7 +. 



This species, origiually described by Lowe iu 1S33, was, as has already been stated, 

 erroneously represented in the Cambridge Philosophical Tr;iiisactions,by a figure of the other 

 si)ecies. In Madeiran waters it is equally abundant with IS. decadactylus, but it has not been 

 identified from the Lusitanian coast. A single specimen was obtained by the steamer 

 Albatross at a depth of 424 fathoms from station 2415, in 35° 49' 30' N. lat., 74° 34' 45" W. 

 Ion., and the British Museum has lately secured specimens from Japan. 



Lowe records the foUowing singular observations: ''One si ngidar distinction which 

 exists between this fish and B. deradacfylus, Cnv., m the comparatively rapid decomposition 

 of the viscera. I have repeatedly had individuals of both soits brougiit for examination, 

 which had been caught together, and while the whole contents of the abdomen in B. deca- 

 dactylus have been in the most perfect preservation, those of B. splendcns, though in other 

 resi)ects the fishes were quite fresh, have proved entirely decomposed. And I have only 

 been able to overcome this difficulty by going out in the fishing boats and being present at 

 the actual capture of this latter species, the AlfoHsin d casta cumprida of the fishermen; 

 which begins to be met with of small size at the depth of 150 or 200 fathoms, but is scarcely 

 taken in full size and plenty except with its congener, B. decadactylus, Cuv., the Alfonsin 

 d casta larga, at the enormous depth of from 300 to 400 fathoms, and from 1 to 2 leagues 

 from the shore." 



MELAMPHAES, Gunther. 



Meiopian, Lowe, Proc. Zoiil. Soc. Loudon, 1843, 90 (type, J/, tiiphlops). (Name preoccupied by a, genus of 



Coleoptera. ) 

 Melamphaes, GiJNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mas., v, 433; Challenger Report, xxii, 26. 



Berycine fishes, with a large and thick head, the superticial bones of which are largely 

 modified by the presence of wide, muciferous channels. Cleft of mouth large, very oblique; 

 lower jaw slightly protruding. Teeth villiform, in a single narrow baud in each jaw ; palatine 

 toothless. Scales large, cycloid, somewhat irregular. A single dorsal with six spines and 

 eleven rays (in type species). Vent far behind the end of the dorsal, and tlie anal fin occu- 

 pying a space midway between the vertical from the end of the florsal and the origin of the 

 caudal, having two spines and six rays. Branchiostegals, viii; pseudobranchiae present. 

 Opercles not armed. 



MELAMPHAES TYPHLOPS, (Lowe), GtiNTHER. (Figure 198.) 



MetopUis typhlops, LoWE,-Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1843, 90; 1850, p. 251. 



Melamphacs typklops, Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. v, 433; Challenger Rejiort, xxil, 27, pi. v, fig. K. 



The greatest depth of the body below the origin of the dorsal fin equals the depth below 

 the occiput, and is rather more than one-fourth of the total length (without caudal), the 

 length of the head being one-third. The head is but little compressed, but higher than 

 broad, and longer than high; the snout is very obtuse, with the lower jaw scarcely project- 

 ing beyond the upper; maxillary extending to behind the vertical from the posterior mar- 

 gin of the eye; eye small, its diameter being one-sixth of the length of the head, and two- 

 thirds of that of the suout; crown of the head very convex, di\ ided by ridges (which 

 are angularly bent) into a central rhomboid portion and into a pair of lateral ones; the 

 skin, extending from ridge to ridge and covering the muciferous channels, is finely and lon- 

 gitudinally plaited, and pierced at regular intervals by very small pores. The operculum 

 has a membranaceous margin; the gill membrane perfectly free from the isthmus, and not 

 united with that of the other side; there are four perfect gills, but the pseudobranchiie are 

 small. Head entirely scaleless. 

 19868— No. 2 12 



