DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 153 



of l,0i7 fathoms; and station cccxxxviii, in 38° 18' 40" N. lat., 73o 18' 10" W. Ion., at a 

 depth of 022 fathoms. 



A closely allied species, X avocvtta, has recently been discovered oft' the Pacitic Coast. 



LABICHTHYS, Gill and Ryder. 



Labivhthya, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U. S. \at. Mus., v, 1883, 261.— Jokdan, Cat. Fish. N. Amer., 56. — 



Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, 65.'). 

 Avocettina, Jordan and Davi.s, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, G.")5. 



Nemichthyids with the head behind the eyes contracted and with very atieuuated jaws. 

 Lateral Uue with a single row of pores. Branchiostegal membrane connected with the throat 

 and the branchial apertures limited to the sides. Small conical teeth in a band along the 

 vomer and otherwise dentition of N'em ichthys. A black epidermis. Tail probably filamen- 

 tous, but abrui>tly truncated in all known specimens. 



LABICHTHYS CAEINATUS, Gill and Ryder. (Figure 171.) 



Labichthys caiinatus, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vi, 1883, 261.— Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. Ainer., 

 57.— Jordan and Davis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888, 656. 



The ridges that bound the median rostral sulcus converge and form a carina along the 

 median line in vertical from the anterior border of the orbit. The greatest height of the 

 body (at posterior third) of the type specimens (0.417 meter long) is O.Ol.'J meter, and the 

 height behind pectorals is 0.0055 meters. Color black. (Gill.) 



Radial formula: D. 268; A. 287; P. 13. 



The type of this species (No. 33369, U. S. N. M.) was obtained by the Albatross ft-om 

 station 2076, in 41° 13' N. lat., 65o 33' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of 900 fathoms. 



A closely allied form, Lahichthijn GilUi, Bean, (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. XIII, 1890, 45) was 

 taken in 1888 by the Alhatroxs in i,5<i9 tathoms off Alaska. It has the vent somewhat 

 remote Horn the pectorals, and the dorsal origin over their tips. 



LABICHTHYS ELONGATUS, Gill and Ryder. (Figure 172.) 



Labichihys i-lotujatiis, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U. S. Nat Mus., vi, 1883, 262.— Jordan and Davis, Rep. 

 U. S. F. C, 1888, 656. 



The ridges that bound the rostral groove are not confluent backwards in a cariniform 

 extension, but end iu a vertical from the orbit. The greatest height of the body (at poste- 

 rior third) iu the type specimen (0.542 meter long) is 0.015 meter. Color black. 



Radial formula: D. 346; A. 309 + x. (The anal is destroyed towards its end); P. 19. 

 (Gill.) 



The type of the species (Cat. No. 33577, U. S. N. M.) was taken by the Albatross at 

 station 2100, iu 39^ 22' N. lat., GS-^' 34' 30" W. Ion., at a depth of 1,628 fathoms. 



LABICHTHYS INFANS, (Ginther), Goode and Bean. (Figure 173.) 



Nemichthys xnfana, GGnther, Ann, and ilag. Nat. Hist., 24, 1878; Challenger Report, xxii, 1881, 264, pi. 



Ixiii, figs, B, b', b", b'". 

 Arocettina iiifiiiis, Jordan and D.wis, Rep. U. S. F. C, 1888. 655. 



Body much less elongate and eye much smaller than in Xcmichthys scolopaceus. 

 Vent twice or thrice as distant from the root of the pectorals as is the latter from the eye. 



This species was taken by the Challnujrr in mid-Atlantic, station 101, depth, 2,.500 

 fathoms; one specimen 11 inches long; and oft' Pernambuco, station 122, depth 500 fathoms, 

 one specimen 7i inches long. The specimen was mutilated. 



Besidesthe.se two specimens, the British Museum has received from the Mona Channel, 

 in the West Indies, a third which was found attached to an old telegraph cable that had 

 been laid at a depth of 114 fathoms; it is 14 inches long, but had a greater part of its body 

 mutilated during life. This specimen, which is faiily well preserved, has been fully de- 



