FISHES FROM THE SEA-BOTTOM 413 



such a way that it was towed about 1000 metres above the 

 bottom, and in this net an Alepocephalus was also captured. 



Such facts warn us against hasty conclusions. Many fishes 

 may, like the fishes in the Norwegian Sea (Gadidse, Sebasies), 

 occur in midwater above considerable depths as well as on the 

 coastal banks and the continental slopes. A single record of 

 a species from intermediate waters does not necessarily entitle 

 us to consider the species as entirely pelagic. As in most 

 biological questions, we have to judge from the available 

 evidence, and, in dealing with the captures of fishes by deep- 

 sea expeditions ^ in depths exceeding 2000 fathoms {3600 metres), 

 I have endeavoured to eliminate all those species which are 

 apparently pelagic, having been frequently captured at inter- 

 mediate depths. In this way I have attempted to ascertain Fishes from 

 how many species and individuals have really been captured on d^pth°"ovTr^" 

 the bottom of the abyssal plain of the oceans, and the result is 2000 fathoms. 

 given in the following table, which comprises 35 individuals 

 belonging to 2 1 species in all : — 



^ The excellent lists given by Brauer in his Report on the Deep- Sea Fishes of the 

 " Valdivia " Expedition, the list by Vaillant in his Report of the French deep-sea expeditions, 

 Carman's Report of the "Albatross" expeditions, Goode and Bean's Oceanic Ichthyology, 

 and Murray's splendid Summary of the "Challenger" Expedition, have greatly facilitated 

 this task. 



[Table 



