DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBl TION. 31 



CHIiLEKA MONSTKOSA, Linnjeus. (Kisiire 81.) 



ChinKFra monslnmi, Linnkis. JIus. Ad. Fiid., i, .53, i)l. .\.xv; Syst. Nat., cd. x, 175SS, i, 23t); cd. xii, 401.— 

 Gu.VTHER, Cat. Fish. Bi-it. Mus., viii, Slit. 



Tail terminating in a very lonj;- Unless tilameiit, about a.s long as the Ijody and liead. 

 Tlie first dorsal fin clo.se to and snl)eontinuoas with the second low dorsal lin, the upper 

 margin of which is even, not notched, e.\;cci)t Just in front of tiie caudal tin, which is also 

 low. Each clasper of the male is divided into two long, slender branches, which are rather 

 longer than the snout, and the hiner branch is again longitudinally divided into a simply 

 cartilaginous .styliform part and another coated with the spiny membrane. Brown, marbled 

 with lighter; dorsal tins with a broad black margin, {(riintlier.) 



This species lias l)een found along the coast of Europe from Norway to Portugal, aiul 

 also off Soudan and at the Azores, but never as yet in North American waters. Individ- 

 uals have also beeu taUen at tlie Cape of (rood Hope and in the seas of Japan. The Knir/ht 

 Errant and the Triton, in their exploration of the Faroe Channel, obtained young individ- 

 uals with their bodies from li to 5 inches in length. Tlie.se were from a depth of 505 to 5.").") 

 fathoms. The TruroiUeiir, in 1SS2, obtained in tlie (rulf of Gascony .some very small indi- 

 viduals, th(^ least one only l.>0 millimeters iu lengtli, and still carrying the yolk bag. This, 

 according to Vaillant, was probably in the horny egg case when it was inclosed by the 

 dredge net, and fragments of the horny envelope W(>re. attached to it, which ])roved to be 

 very similar to those figured by Miiller and Duineril as the egg case of Chima-ra. 



This discovery is particularly instructive, since, even so late as 1887, Dr. Giinther has 

 expressed the opinion that the ova which had been describe<l as Chiniieroid probably 

 belonged to Ciillurln/KchKs. Dr. Giintlier was of the oi)inion, in 18811, tliat tliere was no well- 

 autheuticated egg of Gldma'ra in any collection ; but the adult Callorhynchus has never been 

 found so far north as the Gulf of Gascony, and Vaillant is probably justified iu his conclu- 

 sion that the familiar form of egg is tliat of Ghinuvra monstrosa or tlie closely allied Chi- 

 mwra affinin. 



As Dr. Giinther has already said, the.se discoveries show that Ghhmvra is a deep-sea 

 fish, and one which propagates its species iu deep water, a circumstance which accounts for 

 the previous scarcity of young individuals iu collections. 



CHIM.ERA AFFINIS, C.iPi-.Lio. (Figuns 32-3.5.) 



Chim(era iiffinis, Capello, .Toru. Math., I'liys. o Nat. Lislj., i,v, IstW, 314, pi. iii, ti^s. 1, Iu. 

 Chimara plumhea, Gill, Bull. Phil. Soc. Washington, Dec. 22, 1877. 

 Chimwra abhreviata, Gill, Proo. U. S. Nat. Mils., vi, 1884, 2.54. 



A Chimwra with the snout acutely produced, the ante-orbital flexure of the sulwrbital 

 line extending little above the level of the inferior margin of the orbit; body more elongate 

 than iu C. moii.ifrosa; second dorsal removed from the first by interval equal to the length of 

 the base of the latter. Second dorsal much lower than iu tlie other species, and with the 

 free border straight, without undulatious. The dorsal .s])ine with its anterior surface rounded ; 

 the ventrals triangular and pointed; the pectorals extending to the outer axil of the ven- 

 trals. Space between first dorsal and the ventral wide, the pectoral terminating much in 

 advance of the ventral. Caudal fin vei'y small, terminating in a minute filament. Cephalic 

 appendages with five s[)ines on inner surface. Po.sterior ajtiK'ndages tripartite, but tlie 

 division of the three portion.s takes place at two-thirds of the distance from the base; the 

 cylindrical portion is larger and presents a form difi'erent from that in the others. Color 

 uuiformly i)lumbeous. 



This form is closely allied to Chiiiuvra monstrond. It was hist described by Capello 

 from the coast of Portugal, and later by (xill from the North American side of the Atlantic, 

 at depths varying from 200 to 1,200 fathoms. It is very common in the deep water on the 

 outer edges of banks north of Georges Banks, and was formerly often brought in by the 

 Gloucester halibut schooners. 



