2149. JAPANESE MACROVROID FISHES— GILBERT AND HUBBS. 201 

 27, LIONURUS PROXIMUS (Smith and Radcliffe). 



Macrourus proximus Smith and Radcliffe, iu Radcliffe, Proc. U. S. Nat. 



Mus., vol. 43, 1912, p. 119, pi. 26, fig. 2. 

 Macrourus nasutus Jordan and Gilbekt, in Jordan and Starks, Bull. U. S. 



Fish Comm., 1902 (1904), p. 618 (the specimen from off Izu; not 



CorypJiaenoides nasutus Gtinther). 



Albatross 

 station. 



General locality. 



4915. 

 4918. 

 4957. 

 4308. 

 4977. 



Eastern Sea 



do 



Bungo Channel 



OflShioMisaki 



do 



34° 09' N., 137° 55' E. 



Careful comparison of our material from southern Japan with the 

 type and two paratypes from the Philippine Islands, has disclosed 

 no constant differences. 



This species bears a strong superficial resemblance to Cori/phaen- 

 oides nasutus, with which it was dredged at several stations. This 

 close resemblance has led to the identification by Jordan and Gilbert 

 of a speciman of L. froximus from off Izu with C . nasutus. Smith 

 and Eadcliffe were likewise misled by the similar appearance of the 

 two forms, stating in the description of this species that it is closely 

 related to G . nasutus, and the name proximus was evidently applied 

 because of this supposed relationship. Alcock^ similarly confused 

 his Macrurus hrevirostris, a species of Lionurus, with C. nasutus. 

 But C. nasutus differs generically from both the above in having 6 

 instead of 7 branchiostegal rays, and in the posterior Dosition of the 

 anus. 



L. proximus differs from the descriptions of L. hrevirostris, from 

 the Indian Ocean, in having 9 (rarely 8 or 10) ventral rays, instead 

 of 10, and in the shorter dorsal spine, which is much shorter instead 

 of longer than the head. 



The eye is much longer in the young than in the adult, as shown in 

 the tables of measurements; its decrease in relative size with age being 

 more pronounced than usual. 



The position of the anus is highly variable in this species. The 

 distance from the ventral to the anal is especially great in the speci- 

 men from Izu. The naked area does not extend forward to the ven- 

 trals, and no fossa is apparent. 



lAlcock, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (C), vol. 4, 1SS9, p. 393; Journal of the Asiatic Society 

 of Bengal, vol. G3, pt. 2, 1894, p. 127 ; Illustrations of the Zoology of the Investigator, 

 Fishes, 1894, pi. 13, fig. 3 ; .V Descriptive Cat. of the Indian Deep-Sea Fishes in the Ind. 

 Mus., 1899, p. 108 and 111* Brauer, die Tiefsee-Fische, p. 263; Sewell, Rec. Ind. Mus., 

 vol. 7, 1912, p. 9. 



