DISCUSSION OP SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 57 



the hyoifl boue. Jaws nearly equal. Eye ratber large, anterior. Supraorbital forniiTio- ^ 

 projectiou above the eye. Pseudobrauehia' well doveloped. Gill rakers very small, spiuc- 

 like. Gill membranes slightly connected. Top of head naked. Cheeks and operclcs scaled 

 like the body. Body covered with rather small, adherent, cycloid scales. Lateral Hue pres- 

 ent. No phosphorescent spots. Dorsal flu short, rather anterior. Pectorals moderate, 

 inserted high. Ventrals anterior, not fav behind pectorals, large, the iimer rays longer 

 than the outer. Aual short. Caudal narrow, forked. Brauchiostegals 12 to 1«. ' Stomach 

 with a long, blind sac and many pyloric Cicca. {Jordan.) 



The genus has the appearance of being well suited for deep-water life, and its near allies 

 are some of the most characteristic of the bathybial forms. 



SYNODUS SAURUS (LiXNJsrs.). 



Salmo saurus, LlNN-Et'S, Syst. Nat., ed. x, 17.58, i, 310. 



Saurus min-tis, Cuvier, Rcgue Animal, 1st ed. II. 1817, 169; 2cl ed. 1829, ii, 313. 



Saurus laccrta, Cuvieu and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xxii, 183. 



Synodus lacerta, Goode, Fishes of the Bermudas, 68. 



Saurus griseua, Lowe, Trans. ZoiJl. Soc. London, ii, 188. — Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., v, 395. 



Saurus trivirgatus, Valenciennes, Poiss., Isles Canaries, 72, pi. xv, fig. 1 (good). 



Length of head 4 iu total, snout broader than long, pointed, with Jaws equal anteriorly, 

 or with the upper jaw slightly projecting. Dorsal slightly higher than the length of its r(nir 

 base. Pectorals extend to ninth or tenth scale of lateral line. Scales upon the tail slightly 

 carinate. Color dusky gray above, yellow below. D. 11-12; A. 11-12. Scales 3i | ri8-62 | G. 



This form, the tyiie of the genus Saxrus, C. and V., is closely allied to "i'so.r synodus,^' 

 Linn., the type of Syiio(Ju.s, Schu., which is quite as likely to have been the common Ameri- 

 can Synodus foetens as any other form. 



This form, rare in the Mediterranean, occurs also about St. Vincent, Madeira, and the 

 Canaries, and has been taken by the authors at Bermuda, where it is known as the "Snake 

 Fish." It occurs at moderate depths about Bermuda, but probably below the hundred- 

 fathom line. No observations have been made iu regard to its bathic range. <S'. laianus, 

 Giinther, occurs about the Ki Islands at 140 fathoms; and Giinther is of the opinion that S. 

 atlanticHS, Johnson, a Madeiran form, and S. intermedins, Spix, from tro])ical American waters, 

 also range into deep water. (Jthers are likely to do so. So is (S'<nn7"(/rt, an Indo-Pacific 

 genus. 



BATHYLACO, Goode and Bean, n. g. 



Body subcylindrical, rather elongate, stout, similar in form to Synodns. (Scales are 

 absent in tlie sijecuueu studied, and it is not even possible to determine whether or not this 

 is a naked species.) Head conical. Snout short. Mouth very large, wide, oblique, lower 

 jaw slightly i>rojecting. Maxillary narrow and long, with small teeth, whicli are somewhat 

 biserial in front, and uniscrial behind; interrupted at the symphysis. Mandible with a 

 narrow band of similar teeth. Palatine teeth in a narrowband; tongue toothless. Eye 

 moderately large, very far forward, its upjjcr edge close to the dorsal profile. Pectoral 

 small, placed low. Ventral nearly median, a little in advance of the dorsal and far beiiind 

 the pectoral, with S rays. Dorsal origin nearly in the middle of the leugtli and extending 

 to above the middle of the anal. Adipose fln probably absent. TJie anal origin far back, 

 fin vshort. Gill opening very wide, as in I'xtthysaiirus, the left membrane o\crlapi)iug the 

 right, not attached to the isthmus. Brauchiostegals numerous. Gill rakers short and few. 

 Opercular bones very thin and feeble. 



BATHYLACO NIGRICANS, GooDE and Bean, n. s. (Fignro 69.) 



The length of the head one-fourth of total (without caudal); its depth one half its 

 length. Snout scarcely more than ouc-half the diameter of the eye, and contained about S 

 times iu the length of the head. The lower jaw the longer. The eye is contained 4;^ times 

 in the length of the head, its diameter equal to the width of the interorbital space. The 

 intermaxillary is nearly two-thirds the length of the head. The mandible is contained 3 



