458 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
coast. Many of them inhabit considerable depths in the oeean. The 
young often diller widely in appearance from the adult. 
{nerycidw GUiitlier, i, 8-50 ; exclusive of certain genera.) 
a. Dorsal fin continuous, the spinous part short ; anal spines 3 ; abdomen serrated. 
Hoplostethcs, 238. 
aa. Dorsal fin deeply emarginate, the spinous part long ; anal spines 4. 
IIOLOCENTEUS, 2tja. 
23§.— IIOPILOSTETBIUS Cuv. & Val. 
(Cuvier &. Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, 4G3, 1823: type Hoplostcthus mcditcrra- 
71CUS Cuv. &, Val.) 
Body short and deep, much compressed. Head short, compressed, 
very blunt anteriorly, deeper than long, with very conspicuous mucous 
cavities. Eye very large. Mouth very oblique, the jaws equal when 
the mouth is closed. Maxillary long, broad behind, with a distinet sup- 
l)lemeutal bone, whieh reaches the posterior border of the eye. Teeth 
very line, villiform, on jaws and palatines, none on the vomer. Snb- 
orbital with radiating ridges and a few spines; a vertical ridge on the 
front of the opercle. Opercle little developed, its spine small or obso- 
lete; a strong s^jiue at the angle of the preopercle; the long vertieal 
limb of the preopercle finely serrated. Gill-membraiies separate, free 
from the isthmus. Branchiostegals 8. Scales moderate or small, 
ctenoid; lateral line present, its scales enlarged; abdomen with a series 
of bony plates each, ending in a retrose spine. Dorsal fin continuous, 
short, the spines graduated, G in number; anal with 3 graduated spines; 
caudal forked, its rudimentary rays spinous; pectorals low, rather long; 
ventrals I, G, rather short. Air-bladder simple. Pyloric coeca numerous. 
Vertebrm 114-15. Deep-sea fishes, (o-lo?, armed ; breast.) 
'3' 19. H. BucditeHTaiseus C. & V. 
Silvery, rosy in life ; fins scarlet, peritoneum and inside of mouth 
blaek. Eye very large, much longer than snout, forming about one-third 
the length of head. Abdominal plates 9-13 in number. Body above with 
very small rougfidsh seales; sides nearly or quite naked (in the young 
example seen), scaly in the adult. Peetorals reaching first soft ray of 
anal; ventrals to vent; fins rather low. Head 24; depth 13. D. VI, 
IG; A. Ill, 8; Lat. 1. 28. Length of specimen 3 inches, latel}' dredged 
by the U. S. Eish Commission off Chesaiieake Bay. Coasts of Southern 
Europe. 
(C. &. V. iv, 439; Giintlier, i, 9: Trachichtinjs spcciosus Lowe, Fisb. Madeira, 651.) 
