15S DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



(1) The fish flpscribed by Mitchill in 1S24, which was taken in 52° N. lat., 30o W. Ion.; 

 it was discovered afloat in a helpless condition, having swallowed a fish 10 inches long. The 

 body of this specimen was li and the tail 58 inches long. It does not seem to have been 

 preserved. 



(2) The fish described by llarwood in 1827, which was taken in 62° N. lat., 57° W. ion. ; 

 it was discovered afloat in a helpless condition, " almost worn ont by unavailing efforts to 

 gorge a fish of about 7 inches in circumference." This is the largest of the specimens known, 

 its body having been about 20 and the tail 34 inches long. It does not seem to have been 

 preserved. 



(3) The fish described by Johnson in 1862, which was taken off Madeira, under what 

 circumstances Johnson could not learn, but probably also floating on the surface; it bad 

 swallowed another deep-sea fish about 9 inches long {Halargyreus Johnsonii), the stomach of 

 which was forced up into the mouth by the distended air bladder, showing how rapidly both 

 fishes must have ascended to the surface. The body of this specimen is 8J and the tail 23 

 inches long. It is preserved in the British Museum. 



(4) A young specimen in the British Museum, the history of which is unknown; its 

 body is 3, its tail 8J inches long. It is much shriveled, having been preserved for a long 

 time, but supplies some valuable information on points in which the larger is imperfect. 



(5) A single badly mutilated specimen, secured by the Blahe from station cccxxxi, in 

 3.50 44' 40" N. lat., 74° 40' 20" W. Ion., at a depth of 898 fathoms. 



Dr. GUuther's description applies, no doubt, to S. ampullaceus. His figure is repro- 

 duced in our figiu'e 178. 



Family EURYPHARYNGID.^. 



Nmivelle famille, Vaillant, Comptes Rendus. Acacl. Sc, Paris, Dec. 11, 1882, p. 1226 (not named). 

 EurypharyngkUc, Gill, Science, i, 231, Maicli 30, 1883. — Gill and Kyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mas. vi, 1883, 264. — 

 VaLLIANT, Exp. Sci. Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 193. 



Lyomeri with the branchio-anal j)ortion much shorter than the rostro-branchial; with 

 the tail very elongated and moderately attenuated backwards ; the head flat above, and with 

 a transverse rostral margin, at the outer angles of which the eyes are exposed; with the 

 palatine jaws excessively elongated backwards and the upper parallel, and closing against 

 each other as far as the articulation of the two suspensorial bones; with minute teeth on 

 both jaws; the dorsal and anal fins well developed and continued nearly to the end of the 

 tail, and with minute, narrow pectoral fins. 



The mandibular rami are exceedingly narrow and slender, but the jaws are extremely 

 expansible and the skin is correspondingly dilatable; consequently an enormous pouch may 

 be developed. Inasmuch as the slenderness and fragility of the jaws and the absence of 

 raptorial teeth (at least in Gastrostomus) preclude the idea of the sjjecies being true fish of 

 prey, it is probable that they may derive their food from the water which is received into 

 the pouch, by a ]n-ocess of selection of the small or minute organisms therein contained. 



Tlic peculiar closure of the anterior half of the upper jaws upon each other, and the 

 coordinate joint between the hyomandibular and quadrate elements of the suspensorium 

 are doubtless correlated with the mode of ingestion or selection of food. The skin consti- 

 tuting the pouch, it may be added, has a peculiar velvety appearance, and also reminds 

 one of the patagium or wing membrane of a bat. ( Gill and Ryder.) 



EURYPHARYNX, Vaillant. 



EuryplMrytix, Vaillant, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sc, Paris, 1232, Dec. 11, 1882, (tr. Ann. &, Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 (5), V, 11, p. 67; Exp. Sci. Travaillenr et Talisman, 197; Gill and R\'dkr, loc. cit., 274. 



Eurypharyngids with the cranium greatly abbreviated, the dentigerous bones very 

 elongate, nearly one-half the lengtli of the body; feeble granulations upon the jaws, and a 

 pair of enlarged teeth on the lower jaw in front. GiU-opeuing remote from angle of mouth. 



