56 ALLEN 



along between the halves of the lateral muscle from the vent to 

 the shoulder-girdle. Caudad the vessel from the anal fin is dis- 

 charged into it, and in the rump region it receives transverse 

 vessels that follow the intermuscular septa. Trois (28, p. 7) 

 and (29, p. 23) represents the ventral trunk in Lophius and 

 Uranoscopus as consisting of 2 parallel trunks. With Urano- 

 scopus they run close together and are connected by numerous 

 cross-branches. In front of the anal they unite, and the com- 

 mon trunk receives 3 vessels from the region of the anal fin, of 

 which the median is the largest and traverses the basal canal of 

 the rays ; the 2 lateral trunks are found at the base of the fin 

 and travel toward the tail, and the 3 vessels are said to be con- 

 nected by transverse rami. With Lophius we are told that the 

 ventral canals bifurcate at a very acute angle in front of the 

 ventral fins, and that these branches collect everything at the 

 base of the ventrals. Sappey (25, p. 47) states with the pike 

 and carp that this trunk is very similar to the dorsal ; that it is 

 a single trunk in the region of the anal fin; but in advance of 

 this, between the ventrals and pectorals, it consists of two par- 

 allel trunks, which are prolonged to the posterior end of the 

 skull. With the Pleuronectidse, Sappey (p. 49 and PI. XII, 

 fig. 4) represents the ventral trunk as consisting of 2 parallel 

 vessels in the region of the anal fin, but uniting in front of 

 it in a common trunk that empties into the sinus of Cuvier. 

 Hopkins (8, p. 372) describes the ventral trunk as beginning 

 at the base of the caudal fin and extending cephalad to the 

 heart, where it divides into two branches that merge into peri- 

 cardial sinus, which communicates with the cephalic sinus and 

 thence with the veins. On its course it receives the lymph from 

 the anal and pectoral fins, and the sinus at the base of each of 

 these is said to be much smaller than the one at the base of the 

 pectoral. 



The ventral longitudinal lymphatic trunk of Scorpcenichthys 

 (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9, V.L. V.) differs very materially 

 from any of the species described above, although perhaps con- 

 forming more closely to Hopkins' account for Anita than any 

 of the others. The course of this trunk through the anal fin 

 and its prolongation into the basal canal of the caudal fin is left 



