KEPORT ON THE JAPANESE MACROUROID FISHES 

 COLLECTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISHERIES 

 STEAMER "ALBATROSS" IN 1906, WITH A SYNOPSIS 

 OF THE GENERA. 



By Charles Henry Gilbert and Carl L. Hubbs, 



Of Stanford University, California. 



INTRODUCTION. 



During the summer of 1906 the United States Fisheries Steamer 

 Albatross made extensive explorations about the islands of Jap)an. 

 After a few dredge hauls about the Kuril Islands the course was 

 continued through the Tsugaru Strait and southward, in the Sea of 

 Japan, along the west coast of Hondo to Tsuruga; and from there 

 across the Sea of Japan to the east coast of Korea by way of the 

 Oki Group; then southward, through the Eastern Channel of 

 Korea Strait, to the Eastern Sea ; thence through Vincennes Strait 

 to Kagoshima Gulf ; and northward, through Bungo Channel and the 

 Inland Sea, to Yokohama. The Albatross then circumnavigated 

 Hokkaido (Yezo), and, returning southward, dredged extensively in 

 Suruga Gulf and Sagami Bay. 



The Macrouroid fishes obtained during this expedition are made 

 the subject of the present report. Large numbers of these deep-sea 

 fishes were dredged off the southern and southeastern coasts of 

 Japan, chiefly in the Eastern Sea, Suruga Gulf, and Sagami Bay. 

 They were found in the Okhotsk Sea and everywhere to the east- 

 ward of the islands, but they were not to be discovered in the Sea of 

 Japan nor the Gulf of Tartary, although numerous and successful 

 hauls of the trawl were made at appropriate depths. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE GENERA. 



It has long been apparent to students of Macrouroid fishes that 

 many of the current genera are incapable of exact definition, forming 

 more or less unnatural groups. This statement is especially true of 

 the genus Maa^ourus, with which widely different groups have been 

 repeatedly identified. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 51— No. 2149. 



135 



