10 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC HASIN. 



ETMOPTERUS, Rafinesque. 



Spinax, CtiviER, Rfegiie Animal, 1817, II, 129.— Milleu ami Ilr.M.K, S. 1!. Flag., 1841, 86. 



Acanthidiitm, Lowk, Proc. Zool. Soi'., 183SI, 91, (type, A.piisilliim Lowe).— Fishes of Madeira, 1843-«>0, '+0. 



Sitiiiacoid sharks, witli two doisal fins, eacli with a si)ine; no anal fin. Moutli but little 

 arched; a lonj;-, deep, stiai.ulit, ol)li(<u(^ groove on each side of tlie mouth. Teeth of the 

 lower jaw wifh the jjoint so much turned aside that the inner margin of the tooth forin.s a 

 cutting edge. lTj)i)er tecfh erect, each with a, long pointed cusp and one or two small ones 

 on each side. No membraiia iiictitans. Spiracles wi<le, superior, behind the eye. Gill 

 openings narrow. 



North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and southeastern Pacific. 



ETMOPTERUS SPINAX (Linnet's). (Figure 10.) 



Spimx spinnx. LiNx.F.is, Syst. Nat,, x, 1758, i, 233; xii, 1766, I, 398. 



Spiiiax n'Kjer, Bonaparte, Fauna Italica, Pesci, in, 1832-'41, tig. 1, pi. cxu. — DumJouil, ElasmoVir., 441. — 

 GOnthkk, Cat., viii, 424.— Collett, Noiges Fiske, 1875, 215.— Capello, Cat. Peix. Port. 1880, 49. 



A 8pinax, with scales tipped by short setiform spines, giving a villous appearance to the 

 skin. Fir.st dorsal shorter than second, midway between the second dorsal and eye. 

 Uniform brown or black, or with whiti.sh longitudinal baud along the side of the abdomen 

 and of the tail. Caudal .sonu'times with white margin. (Gilnihcr.) 



The little spinous dogfish with tricuspid teeth in its upper Jaws has not yet been 

 fimnd in the western Atlantic. Unless the naturalists of lOurope have been careless, 

 its distribution on that coast is very remarkable. The Norwegians tiiid it along their entire 

 <'oast, from the Christiauia Fiord to West Finmark (lat. 09° 30'), where it is abundant and 

 l)roduces young in midsummer. In the Mediterranean it is also abundant, occurring at 

 great depths (*(?<//« a (jramJe profonditiu Canestrini), and it lias also been taken in the Atlantic 

 oft'Li.sbon. We can find no record of its having been observed by French or English nat- 

 uralists, unless it has been confounded with the other form of spiny dogfish — Squalus 

 aea»fhiaii,Jj., — which is abundant at both extremes of the recorded range of iSphuix xpina.v, 

 and is abundant in the Mediterranean as well as in Norway, and also on the American 

 coast from New York (lat. W^ 30') northward to Lal)rador and doubtless to Greenland. It is 

 ])robablc that a Inor(^ careful s(^arch may reveal the presence of Sphui.r on the Engli.sh and 

 French coasts, and it may be in America. 



Utmoptertis spinax is replaced about Madeira by IJ. pnsiUus. 



Etm. {irxnulosus of Giintber (Challenger Keport vi, Shore Fishes, 19, ]>1. ii, 2, fig. C), 

 occurs on the southwest coast of South America, where a single specimen lOJ inches long 

 was obtained by the Challenger. 



ETMOPTERUS PUSILLUS (Lowe), . I. &. E. (Figure 5.) 



AcanUnxUmu iimiUum, Lowe, Proc. ZoiJl. S^c. London, 1839, 91. — Trans. Zool. Soc., iii, 19. 



Spinax jmsillun, GCxthek, Cat. Fish. Urit. Mus., viii, 425.— Vaillaxt, Voy. Travaillenr and Talisman. 72.— 



Collett, Bull. Soc. Zcxll. France, xv, 1890, 219. 

 Spinax hilHanu>i, PoEY, Mi'm. Hist. Nat. Cuba, ii, 340. — Hep. Fis. Nat. Cuba, 1868, 454 (^rfe Giinther). 



A SpiiKi.r witli l>ody smooth, scales very small, each w ith minute tuberosity, but without 

 spines; the first dorsal lin much shorter than the second, midway between the second dorsal 

 spine and the eye; tail relatively shorter than on >S'. spiitd.t; its length less than the space 

 between th(^ snout and the origin of th(> pectorals; color brown. (GUnther.) 



The P>}(tl;e took a single individual, believed to belong to this species, at Station cviil, 

 off St. Chri.stopher, in 208 fathoms. It had previously been known only from Madeira and 

 ("uba, the ('ape \'ei(les. 290 fathoms (TravmUcur), and the Bernmdas ((Joode). Lowe had 

 five or six from Madeiia, wliere it is not very rare, never exceeding a foot in length. The 

 species is there taken " at moderate depths," but the line fisheries of Madeira are sill at extra- 

 ordinary depths below the surface. 



