182 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



;ui appendix to his great work, Vaillaiit expresses the oi)iiiion that lie had erred in forming 

 a new genus, and tliat it behnigs properly to Mi'Uimphm-K^ of (Jiinther. 



tScopcUnjadm is well distinguished from both Mclamphuis and from I'hctromuH by vari- 

 ous characters, most prominent of which are the short head, comparatively small mouth, 

 ludinu^ntary eye, and short dorsal and aual fins, which overlap to the extent of nearly a 

 third of the 1 eugth of each. 



SCOPELOGADUS COCLES, Vaillant. (Figure 199.) 

 Scopelogadus codes, Valliant, Exp. Sci., Travailleur et Talisman, 1888, 143, pi. xxvi. 



Height of body one-fourth of total length (without caudal); length of head three- 

 tenths. Eye minute, rudimentary. Length of the maxillary half the length of the head; 

 length of pectoral eqna] to that of the head, its tip extending far behinil the vent and to 

 the vertical from the base of the antepenultimate dorsal ray; length of the ventral about 

 half that of the pectoral, its tip not reaching to the vent. Scales large, about 21 in the 

 longitudinal series — 2 above and 4 below. Dorsal placed midway between the snout and 

 the base of the upper caudal rays (not the an tecedeut rudimentary spines). Origin of the 

 anal under the base of the preantep enultimate dorsal ray, the dorsal overlapping it nearly 

 one-half of its length. 



Radial formula: D. 12; A. 8+ ; V. 10. 



A long description, accompanied by several figures of anatomical details, is given by 

 Vaillant. The species was described from four specimens obtained on the Banc D'Arguin 

 at depths of from 1,090 to 1,250 meters, and off the Cape Verde Islands at 3,055 meters. 



MALACOSARCUS, Gunther. 

 Malacosareus, GtJNTHER, Challenger Report, xxii, 30. 



Head large and. thick, with bones very thin, and with wide and deep muciferous cavi- 

 ties; also the canal along the lateral line is much distended. Cleft of the mouth wide, 

 oblicpiely descending backwards, with jaws nearly equal in front. A narrow band of villi- 

 form teeth in both jaws; palate toothless. Eight branchiostegals, pseudobranchite present. 

 The edges of the preoperculum and the lower edge of the mandible with minute and 

 distant spines. Scales extremely thin, not sculptured, deciduous, irregular, and of moderate 

 size. One dorsal; caudal emarginate, with broad basal fold above and below; anal spines 

 very feeble. Ventrals small, five-rayed, inserted at some distance behind the pectorals. 

 Gills four; gill-laminie short; gill-rakers long, needle-shaped. (Giiiithcr). 



Although this fish is only a degraded form of Mdamphafs, Giinther decided to make it 

 the type of a distinct genus, since otherwise the generic definition of Mclamjjhacs would 

 lose much in precision. 



This peculiar genus is represented by the single species M. macrostoyna, Ciinther (Ann. 

 and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1878, vol. ii, p. 180; Challenger Report, Vol. xxii, p. 30), obtained in 

 the mid-Pacific, Challenger station 271, at a depth of 2,425 fathoms, 3^ inches long; and 

 near the Low Archipelago, station 27(i, at a depth of 2,330 fathoms, 3i inches long. No 

 vestige of it has yet been found in the Atlantic. 



POROMITRA, Goode and Bean. 



Foromitra, Goode and Bf.ax, Bull. M. C. Z., x, 1883, 214.— Gunther, Clialleuger Ritport, xxii, 34. 



Body short, compressed, scopeliform, covered with thin, cycloid scales. Head very 

 large, nearly half the entire length of the fish to base of caudal, with scales upon cheeks, 

 suboperculuni, and probably elsewhere. No barbel. Mouth very large, the lower jaw 

 projet^ting. Margin of upper jaw composed of a short intermaxillary and a long maxillary. 

 Teeth cardiform, numerous, very small, on the iuteimaxillaries and mandibles: none dis- 

 covered on maxillarics, palatines, or vomer. Oi)ercular apparatus complete. 



Dorsal flu in the middle of the body, its origin not far behind that of the ventrals, the 

 spinous and soft portions subequal iii length. Anal much shorter than dorsal, its middle 



