148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.51. 



preopercular margin ; the preocular length of the snout ; the greatest 

 width of the snout opposite the anterior orbital margins ; the length 

 of maxillary from tip of premaxillary ; the length of the free por- 

 tion of the barbel ; the greatest depth of the body, usually from the 

 origin of the first dorsal to the midline of the abdomen; the width 

 of the body over the bases of the pectoral fins ; the distance between 

 the center of the anus and the origin of the anal; the distance 

 between the center of the anus and the base of the outer ventral ray ; 

 the distance from the base of the outer ventral ray to the isthmus, 

 at the anterior end of the scaly area ; and the length of the pectoral 

 from the base of the second ray. 



The number of scales is counted in a series from the origin of 

 the second dorsal to the lateral line, including the small series along 

 the base of the fin, and also in a series from the lateral line to the 

 origin of the anal, the lateral line scale being excluded in each case. 

 Both the rudimentary and the developed spine of the first dorsal are 

 described, but in the tables only the soft rays are enumerated, in- 

 cluding the last ones, which are always short and unbranched; the 

 uppermost pectoral ray, which is counted, is short, unbranched, and 

 inarticulate — stiff and sharp in the Coryphaenoidinae, but flexible 

 in the Bathygadinae ; all the serrations of the dorsal spine are 

 counted, including the rudimentary ones. The gill-rakers are 

 counted on the lower limb of the outer arch, unless otherwise indi- 

 cated; when one is at the angle of the arch, it is counted among 

 those on the lower limb. 



When tw^o counts are given of the rays of the paired fins, the first 

 one was made on the left side. 



SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTIONS. 

 Genus BATHYGADUS Gunther. 



Bathygadns Gunthek, Challenger Reports, vol. 22, Deep-Sea Fishes, 1887, 



p. 154 (cottoides) . 

 Melanobranchus Regan, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, vol. 11, 1903, p. 459 



( melanobranchus ) . 

 Rvffania Jordan, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1902 (1904), p. 604 (nipponica). 



Excluding the anomalous Trachyrhi/nchus, we are unable to sepa- 

 rate more than two genera of the Bathygadinae : Bathygadns, which 

 has the teeth comparatively coarse, and the barbel absent or rudi- 

 mentary,^ and Gadomus, which has the teeth very minute, and the 

 barbel very long. We do not accept the genus Melanobranchus, which 

 was described as differing from Bathygadus in the presence of four 

 gills, and a slit behind the last arch. Mr. C. Tate Regan, of the British 

 Museum, having kindly examined the type of B. cottoides, writes us 

 that it agrees with B. melanohranchus in the character of the gills, 

 contrary to Giinther's description, in which it is stated that B. cot- 



^ In B. melanopterus, macrops, sulcatus, and garretti. 



