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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



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Figure 74. — Snipe eel (Nemichthys scolopaceus) . Drawing by E. N. Fischer, from Bigelow and Welsh. 



straight. The head is much deeper than the 

 neck, with large eyes. The dorsal fin originates 

 in front of the pectorals, the anal about abreast 

 of the tip of the pectorals, and both dorsal and 

 anal run back to the tip of the tail. 



There has been some confusion in the published 

 accounts and illustrations as to the dorsal and 

 anal fins, for while Vaillant 83 shows both as about 

 as high throughout their length as the fish is deep, 

 Goode and Bean 84 picture the dorsal as much 

 higher than the anal (the artist evidently having 

 transposed the two fins) , whereas Brauer 86 repre- 

 sents the anal as approximately twice as high as 

 the dorsal and the latter as soft rayed in its an- 

 terior and posterior portions but composed of 

 short thorn-like spines along its central third. The 

 fins of two specimens taken off New England, now 

 in the collections of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology are as follows: 



Dorsal, soft-rayed and nearly as high as the 

 body is deep for its first half; back of that it con- 

 sists of a series of very short, stiff rays that extend 

 to the tip of the tail. 



Anal, soft-rayed throughout its length and about 

 as high as the body is deep, tapering to almost 

 nothing on the tail. 



The confusion has been due in part to the rather 

 fragmentary state in which these deep-water fish 

 usually arrive on board, but at the same time it is 

 probable that two distinct species have been con- 

 fused under the name scolopaceus, as Brauer 

 suspected. 



Color. — Described as pale to dark brown above 

 with the belly and anal fin blackish after preserva- 

 tion. Judging from experience with other deep- 

 sea fishes and from Brauer's plate (which, however, 

 may be another species), we suspect that it is 

 chocolate brown above in life and velvety black 

 below. 



Size. — Maximum length about 3 feet. 



Habits. — Although commonly spoken of as a 

 "deep-sea" fish, this species is undoubtedly an 

 inhabitant of the mid depths, not of the bottom, 

 and judging from the occurrence of other black 

 fishes it probably finds its upper limit at 100 to 

 200 fathoms. Nothing further is known of its 

 habits, but Mowbray's 86 capture near Bermuda of 

 a snipe eel clinging by its jaws to the tail of a large 

 red snapper has suggested that such may be a 

 regular habit of this curious species. 



General range. — The snipe eel has been taken 

 in deep water at many stations off the east coast 

 of North America between latitudes 31° and 42°N., 

 longitudes 65° and 75°W. ; also in the South Atlan- 

 tic; near the Azores; near Madeira; off the Cape 

 Verde Islands ; off West Africa ; and in the Pacific 

 of New Guinea. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — One specimen 

 taken from the stomach of a codfish caught on 

 Georges Bank in 45 fathoms is the only Gulf of 

 Maine record, but several have been taken in 

 depths of from 300 to 2,000 fathoms on the sea- 

 ward slope of the bank. 



THE LANCET FISHES. FAMILY ALEPISAURIDAE 



The lancet fishes have one long and very high 

 dorsal fin, soft-rayed from end to end; a small 



- Poissons. Exped. Scl. Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, pi. 7, figs. 2 and 2a. 

 M Smithsonian Contrlb. Knowl., vol. 31, 1895, pi. 46, fig. 170. 

 '« Tiefsee-Flsche, Wlss. Ergeb. Deutsch. Tiefsee-Exped. (189S-1899), vol 

 16, Pt. 1, 1900, p. 126, pi. 9, fig. 1. 



adipose fin behind the dorsal fin, like that of a 

 salmon or smelt; a deeply forked caudal fin; a 

 short anal, most of which is behind the rear end 

 of the dorsal; large pointed pectorals and ven- 



"Copela ,No. 108. 1922, p. 49. 



