ETMOPTERUS. 221 



ACAXTHIDIUM EGLANTINA. 



Deania eglantina Jordan & Snyder, 1902, Proc. U. S. nat. urns., 25, p, 80, f. 2; Jord. & Fowler, L903, 

 Proc. U. S. nat. mus., 26, p. 632, f. 4. 



Head large, nearly one fourth of the total length; snout long, depressed, 

 broad. Eyes large, lateral; front of orbit nearer to tip of snout than to the 

 first gill opening. Nostrils large, about equidistant from end of snout and from 

 eye. Mouth rather wide. Spiracle large, nearer to the eye than to the gill 

 opening. Gill openings in front of the pectoral. Pectorals about as long as the 

 snout, hind margin convex. Base of the first dorsal little behind the ends of the 

 pectorals, fin short, spine little exposed. Spine of second dorsal nearly as high 

 as the fin, half exposed. Ventrals small, entirely in front of the spine of the 

 second dorsal. Caudal elongate, subcaudal lobe not much produced. "Scales 

 each with 3 or 4 short radiating bristle-like spines with two small prickles on 

 each side, the whole body having a ki nd of hairy appearance, and velvety to the 

 touch." 



Dark greyish brown, almost black, tips of spinules lighter. 



Known from the description of the type, a young female, twelve inches in 

 length, taken in Totomi Bay, Japan, by the Albatross. 



Etmopterus. 



Etmopterus Rafinesque, 1810, Caratteri, p. 14. 



Spinax Bonaparte, 1841, Icon. Fauna, Ital., Pesci; Muller & Henle, 1841, Plagios., p. 86. 



Body subcylindrical or fusiform, longer than the tail. Snout produced, 

 broad, blunt; nostrils far forward, near the edges. Eyes large, lateral, shielded 

 by pigment in the upper front of the orbit, without a nictitating membrane. 

 Mouth transverse, not greatly arched, with a deep groove and labial folds 

 at each angle. Teeth unlike; upper raptorial, pluricuspid, resembling those 

 of Centr&scyllium ; lower sectorial, compressed, blade-like, similar to those of 

 Squalus. Spiracles large, behind the eye at a higher level, opening upward. 

 Two dorsal fins, each with a compressed spine, doubly grooved on each side, 

 hinder spine larger, behind the ventrals. No anal fin. Caudal short, without 

 a pit in front, with a shallow notch between subcaudal and terminal portions. 

 Scales small, with broad quadrangular or radiate bases and with or without an 

 erect cusp. Species small, mostly from great depths, more or less luminous, the 

 young with a common pattern of markings. 



