460 Bulleti)i 4y, United States National Museum. 



A single specimen, 3i inches in length, was obtained by the Albatross at 

 station 2099 in 37° 12^ 20^^ N. latitude, 69° 39^ W. longitude, at a depth 

 of 2,949 fathoms. (Named for Prof. Edward Drinker Cope, one of the 

 most able and productive of living workers in ichthyology.) 



Aleposomjis copei. Gill, Amoriciui Naturalist, xviii, 1884, 443, Gulf Stream ; (Type, No. ^^titil.) 

 GooPE & Bean. Oceanic Irlithyologj', 47, fig. 51, 1895. 



Family LXIV. SALMONID^. 



(The Salmon Family.) 



Body oblong or elongate, covered with cycloid scales. Head naked. 

 Mouth terminal, large or small, varying much in the different genera; 

 maxillary forming the lateral margin of the upper jaw, provided with a 

 supplemental bone ; premaxillaries not protractile. Teeth various, some- 

 times wanting. Gills 4, a slit behind the fourth. P.seudobranchi;i* 

 present. Gill rakers various ; gill membranes not connected, free from 

 the isthmus ; branchiostegals 10 to 20. No barbels. Dorsal usually 

 nearly median, not greatly elongate, its rays 9 to 15, only one or two of 

 the anterior simple or rudimentary, the others branched; adipose fin 

 present; caudal fin forked; anal fin moderate or rather long; ventrals 

 moderate, nearly median ; pectorals placed low. Lateral line pres- 

 ent. Abdomen rounded in outline. Parietals not in contact, sepa- 

 rated at middle by the intervention of the supraoccipital, which connects 

 with the froutals ; epipleural appendages not developed. Air bladder 

 large , stomach siphonal ; pyloric cceca very numerous. Ova large, 

 falling into the cavity of the abdomen before exclusion. Genera 10. 

 Species about 70. As now restricted, this is no longer one of the large 

 families of fishes, but in beauty, activity, gaminess, and quality as food, 

 and even in size of individuals, different members of the group stand 

 easily with the first among fishes. The Salmoiiidw are confined to the 

 northern regions, and north of about 40° N., everywhere abundant 

 where suitable waters occur. Some of the species, especially the larger 

 ones, are marine and anadroraous, living and growing in the sea, and 

 entering fresh waters to spawn. Still others live in running brooks,, 

 entering lakes or the sea as occasion serves, but not habitually doing so. 

 Others again are lake fishes, approaching the shore, or entering brooks 

 in the spawning season, at other times retiring to waters of considerable 

 depth. Some of them are active, voracious and gamy, while others are 

 comparatively defenseless and will not take the hook. The large size of 

 the eggs and their lack of adhesiveness, with the ease by which the eggs 

 may be impregnated, render the Salmon and Trout especially adapted 

 for artificial culture. The Sah»o)iid(i: are of comparatively recent evolu- 

 tion, none of them occurring as fossils, i^nless it be in recent deposits. 

 The instability of the specific forms and the lack of sharply defined spe- 

 cific characters may be in part attributed to their recent origin, as Dr. 

 Guuther has suggested. {Sahnonida, part, Giinther, Cat., vi, 1-202, 1866.) 



