DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AXD THEIR DISTRIBUTIOX. 149 



NETTASTOMA MELANURUM, Kafixesque. 



Nettastoma imlanura, Rai-inesqie, Caratteri, 1810, 66, pi. xvi, fi-. 1.— Kaip, Apoil.'S, 119, li-. 7r..— Ointuei!, 

 Cat. Fish. Urit. Mus., viii, 48.— Challenger Report, xxii, 2.-);i.— DiiDEKLKix, Att. A<-e. Soc., 1877, 58.— 

 GiGLioLi, EleuLO, 1880, 17.— Vinciguerka, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genoa, 1883, DS5.— Vaill.ixt, Kxp. Seient. 

 Travailleur et Talisman, Poissou.s, 83, pi. V, tigs 2, 2a, 2b. 



Miiraiinjjliia sciyii, Risso, Ichth., Nice, 1810, lig. 39. 



IJyojiiorus messinensis, Kolliker, loe. cii. — Vaillant, op. cil., 9.5. 



A Nettastoma, -vritli stout upper .jaw, slightly projecting beyoud the lower and without 

 prominent cutaneous flap ; with mouth clett not extending behind the vertical from the orl)if. 

 Teeth strong. Tail threefifths the length of the body. Diameter of the eye Ihree-twen- 

 tietlis the length of the head. Fins margined, witli black posteriorly. 



This form is found in the western Mediterranean, where it has not yet been traced to 

 any considerable depth. It doubtless is more common in the deep than in the shallow 

 waters, for its bathybial distribution has been demonstrated in adjoining Atlantic waters. 



Nettastoma brerirostris, Facciola (Natiualista Siciliauo, vi, 1887, 166, pl.iii, fig. 3) is 

 apparently a closely allied form. 



Vaillant believes that he has recognized, in two small individuals of 95 and 14i! milli- 

 meters, respectively, the young of Nettastowa, and probably f)f this species, and dissents 

 fiom the views of those ichthyologists who regard the Lcpiocephalus form — Hi/oprorus mes- 

 sinensis — as the young, or transformed, Nettastoma. 



VENEFICA, Jordan and Davis. 

 Fenejica, Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888 (1891), (151. 



Closely allied to Nettastoma, but with snout prolonged in a slender fleshy proboscis, with 

 the anterior nostrils at its base. The type is N. provenim, Goode and Beau. 



VENEFICA PKOCERA,(Gooi)E axd Bean), Jordan ami Davis. (Figure 1G8.) 



Neitaiftoma procerum, Goode and Bean, Bull. Mus. Comii. Zoiil., x, 1883, 224. — Jordan, Cat. I'isli. N. Am. 



1885, 55. — GiJNTHER, Challenger Report, xxii, 253. 

 Venefica proccra, Jordan and Davis, loe. cif. 



A Nettastoma with body very elongate, comjiressed, tapering to a very slender atten- 

 uate point; its greatest height contained nearly 4 times in the distance fi-om the gill open- 

 ing to the tip of the lower jaw, and equals half the length of the snout. Head slender, 

 conical; jaws somewhat depressed; the upper jaw Iieavier and tliicker, and projecting 

 beyoud the lower a distance equal to the diameter of the eye. Length of snout e<iuals tlie 

 distance from the posterior margin of the orbit to the gill opening; the cleft of the mouth 

 extends behind the eye to a distance equal to the diameter of the orbit. On each side of the 

 upper jaw, and iu advance of the eye, are twelve pores; behind each eye are three pores, 

 while on the median line, on the top of the upper jaw, are .several pores posteriorly arranged 

 in xiairs, of which there are tour, tlie ultimate pair being between the posterior nostrils. 

 There is also a pair of pores upon the nape, connecting the postorbital rows, and seventeen 

 on each side of the mandible. The mandibulary series is continued by another series 

 extending over the cheeks and nape. The snout is jirovided with a slender, filamentous tii>, 

 whose length is equal to twice the diameter of the eye. The tongue is apparently absent in 

 the specimens examined by us. The teeth are arranged as iu N. melanunim, but exceed- 

 ingly small, and much less conspicuous than in the figures of Kaup and Ivisso. 



Dorsal fin commences above the gill opening. 



The anal fin is inserted under the seventy-third dorsal ray at a distance from the snout 

 equal to 3§ times the length of the head. The tail is twic^e as long as the body, head included. 

 The total length of the specimen is 727 millimeters, including the nasal tip, which measures 

 7 millimeters. 



Lateral line highly specialized, with numerous pores, corresponding in general charac- 

 ter to those upon the head, and arranged iu a deep fiuiow, their distances apart being about 



