2526 Bulletin ^7, United States National Museum. 



die of body; suborbitals modorato; no barbels, spines, nor eirri on head; 

 raouth terminal, with minute teeth on jaws and vomer, none on palatines; 

 ventrals jugular, extremely long, few-rayed, the rays dilated and sepa- 

 rate nearly to base. Dorsal fins 2, the first an elongate, slender occipi- 

 tal ray ; second dorsal on posterior half of body, of soft rays, depressed 

 medially, so that it forms 2 lobes; no spines in fins. Anal nearly similar 

 to the soft dorsal and similarly depressed in the middle; dorsal and anal 

 depressible in a groove of scales. Hypercoracoid perforate; no pseudo- 

 branchiie; gill openings wide, the membranes free from the isthmus. A 

 single genus with 2 or 3 sjiecies found in the open sea, probably near the 

 surface; widely distributed. The presence of the hypercoracoid foramen 

 shows that this family is allied to the Brotnlida' rather than to the Gadida;. 

 From the Brotnlida' it is mainly distinguished by the development of its 

 dorsal and ventral fins. 



974. BREGMACEROS, Thompson. 



Bregmaceros, Thompson, in Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. Hist., iv, 1840, 184 (macclellandii) . 

 Galloptilum, Richardson, Voy. Sulpb., Fish., 94, pi. 46, figs. 4-7, 1843 (minim). 

 Asthenurus, Tickell, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 1865, 32 (atri2nnnis). 



Characters of the genus included above, {^pey/ua, the upper part of 

 the head, the nape; uepac,, horn.) 



a. Scale.s in transverse .series 14; scales in lateral series 58 to 64. 



MACCLELLANDII, 2897. 



aa. Scales in transverse series 10; in lateral series 65; anterior lobes of dorsal and 

 anal lower than in B. macclellandii. Atlanticus, 2898. 



2897. BREGMACEROS MACCLELLANDII, Thompson. 



Head 5|; depth 6|. D. about 1, 18-X-22 (16 + X-15); A. about 18, X, 22 

 (22, X, 20) ; V. 4 or 5 ; scales 58-14 (64-14). Body moderately elongate, com- 

 pressed, the form somewhat as in Ophidion, the back not elevated. Head 

 short and small, moderately compressed; bones of head thin, without ser- 

 rature or spine; eye moderate, 3 in head; interorbital space ridged, about 

 as broad as eye; snout blunt, rather shorter than eye; mouth very oblique, 

 the jaws subequal ; maxillary reaching to beyond middle of eye, 2i in head ; 

 lower jaw flattish, cruved upward; teeth in both jaws moderate, slender, 

 close set, recurved, apparently in a single series. Tongue conspicuous; 

 no teeth evident on vomer or palatines; branchiostegals 7 or 8; gill mem- 

 branes separate, free from tbe isthmus; no evident pseudobranchise; gill 

 rakers obsolete; no barbels about jaws. Body with rather large, thin, 

 caducous scales (nearly all of them fallen in the typical specimens so that 

 they can not be counted). Dorsal lin beginning with a single long and 

 very slender spine on occiput, this nearly ^ longer than head. Behind this, 

 for a distance about equal to its length, the rudimentary rays, if present, do 

 not rise above the sheath on each side. Nearly opposite the vent begins 

 the dorsal proper, the distance of its first ray from snout being about | 

 length of body; about 12 rays are moderately elevated, about f length of 

 head. The others are gradually shorter and more slender, becoming too 



