DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIK DISTRIBUTION. 139 



very narrow bands, villiform, a dense cluster on the vomer. Lengtli of liead etiual to that 

 of the trunk. Tail about twice as long as body. Dorsal beginning far in advance of gill 

 opening and pectoral. Color yellowish; blackish on termination of tail. 



Specimens were obtained by the Albatross at stations 2121 and 2122, in 31 to 34 fath- 

 oms, and at station 2402, in 111 fathoms; also by the Blale at station cclxiv, in 84 fathoms. 



COLOCONGER, Alcock. 



Coloconger, AxcocK, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov. .and Deo., 1889, 4,56. 



Snout and tail very short. Muscular and osseous .systems well developed. Four gills, 

 which communicate with the pharynx by wide shts. Gill openings separate. Heart situ- 

 ated immediately behind the gills. Eyes large. Posterior nostril superior. Cleft of mouth 

 wide, extending beyond the middle of the eye. Tongue free. Teeth in a single continuous 

 ridge in each jaw; none on the vomer. No .scales. Vertical fins well developed, confluent; 

 the dorsal begins above the root of the jjcctoral. Pectorals well developed. 



This genus contains one species, Coloconger noiicqjs, Alcock {loc. cit), taken by the In- 

 vestigator in the Andaman Sea, off Koss Island, in from 265 to 271 fathoms. 



PROMYLLANTOR, Alcock. 



Promyllantor, Alcock, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., sixth series, Vol. 6, p. 310. 



A genus allied to Congromurcnia, with body stout, with the muscular and osseous 

 systems well develoiied. Tail about as long as the trunk. IMuciferous cavities of the head 

 well developed. Eye rather small. Cleft of the mouth narrow, not extending behind the 

 middle of the eye. ViUiform teeth in broad bands in the jaws and in a broad, confluent 

 patch on the palate. Tongue free, ^^ostrils later.al. Gill openings widely separate; four 

 gills with wide clefts. No scales. Pectoral and vertical fins well developed, the latter 

 confluent. The dorsal begins some distance behind the occiput. 



The genus is known from one species, P. purpureus, Alcock, from 1,000 fathoms iu the 

 Arabian Sea, by the Investigator at station 104. 



Family SIMENCHELYIDvE. 



Simenchelyida:, Gill (with Goode and Bean), Bull. Essex Inst., v, 11, 21, 1879; Standard Nat. Hist., iii, 

 107,1885; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., .\m, 1890, 239 (No. 817).— Joki>an, Rep. Com. Fish., 1885, v, 13, 844 

 (Sep., p. 56, 1885), 1887.— Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888 (1891), 669. 



Simenchelyinm, Joruan and Gilbert, Sjti. Fishes N. Am., 357, 1882. 



Apodal fishes with snout blunt; anterior, transverse mouth; jaws massive and teeth 

 blunt, uiiiserial, on edge of jaws only; no teeth on vomer, gill openings horizontal, inferior, 

 moderately separated. 



SIMENCHELYS, Gill. 



Simenchdys, Gill (with Goode and Bean), Bull. Essex Inst., xi. 1880, p. 27. 

 Conchognathus, Collett, Bull. Sue Zool. France, 1889, 122. 



Body eelUke, with a short, l)lunt sn<mt and an eel-like tail. The branchial apertures 

 are short logitudinal slits on each side of the throat below the pectorals, which are well 

 develo])ed; the dorsal commences about a head's length behind the ])ectorals, the anal con- 

 siderably in advance of the second half of the total length. Tlie skin has scales like those 

 of Angvilla, linear, scattered, and disposed at right angles to each other. The head is very 

 short; the i)reniaxillaries and maxillaries of each side consolidated into a single piece and 

 separated from that of the opposite side by the ethmoid, and i)ro\ided with lamelliform 

 posterior margin and an expanded antero-terminal i)rocess; mandible very deep; teeth 

 blunt, uniserial ; the operculum saber-shaped. 



SIMENCHELYS PARASITICUS, Gill. (Figure 161.) 



Simencluhis parasiticus, Gill (with GoonE and Bean), Fish. Essex Co. & Mass. Bay, 1879, 27. — Jordan and 

 Gilbert, Bull, xvi, U. S.Nat. Mus., 363.— Gcnther, Challenger Report, xxii, 252. — Gill, loc. ci/.— Jor- 

 dan li Davis, loc. cit. — CotH-hognathus Grimnldii, Collett, Bull. Zool. Soc. Franco, 1889, 122. 

 Head blunt, rounded, bulldog-like in aspect; angle of mouth midway between the tip 



