202 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



Subfamily GEMPYLIN^E. 



Scombridu) with very elougat<^, compressed body, and elongate, spinous dorsal, which 

 is continuous with the second dorsal. Caudal not carinate. Pyloric caeca few. 

 In this subfamily is a single genus and a single species. 



GEMPYLUS, CuviEU and Valenciennes. 



Gempi/his, Cm'iER au<l Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., viii, 207. 



Scombroidea with very elongate, slender, compressed body. Scales almost absent. Spi- 

 nous doi'sal very long, with thirty or more spines, continuous with the second; six Unlets 

 above and below. Veutrals minute, almost rudimentary. Caudal not keeled. Several 

 strong teeth in the jaws. Pyloric c;¥ca not numerous. 



GEMPYLUS SERPENS, Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



Scomber serpens, Solander, MSS. 



Gevipylus serpens, Cvv. and Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., viii, 207 (Antilles, from M. Pl^e).— Cuviek, Rfcgne 

 Animal, 111., Poiss., PI. XLix, Fig 2.— GtiNTiiER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., ii, 1860, 350; Challenger Report, 

 .KXii, 1887, 41, and in Garrett's Fische der Siidsee, Hamburg, 1873, I, 106, Taf. Lxvm, Fig. B. 



Gemptjlus coluber, Cuviek and Valenciennes, loc. cit., 211. (Otaiti, coll. by Garuot and Lesson.) 



Lemnisoma thyrsitoides, Lesson, Voyage Coquille, Poiss., 160. 



GEMPYLUS SERPENS. 



A GempyluH with the ventrals reduced to a pair of very small spines. The height of the 

 body is contained from 15 to 17 times in its own lengtli; the length of the head from 5 to 

 5^ times in the same distance. Body scaleless. Coh)r uniform, the upper part of the dor- 

 sal fin black. 



Kadial formida: U. xxx-xxxi, 12-13, vi; A. iii, 12, vi. 



Pyloric C£eca, 9-10. 



Giinther considei-s all known forms of this genus as belonging to a .single species, includ- 

 ing G. coluber, C. & V., the Pacific form, which he has figured in his Fhche der Siidsee, pi. 

 Lxviii, fig. B. It has been rarely obtained at the Canary Islands, in the Caribbean Sea, 

 and near the Society and Sandwich Islands. It is generally believed to be an inhabitant of 

 great dejrths. 



Family LEPIDOPID.^. 



Lepidopodidoe, Gill, Standard Natural History, iii, 188.5, 206. 

 Lepidopidw, Gill, MS. 



Scombroidea with elongate band-sliaped bodies, a continuous or subcontinuous long 

 dorsal, a comparatively short anal, preceded by a considerable number of short detached 

 spines, no flnlets, and a distinct forked caudal. Pectorals with some inferior rays longest. 

 Ventrals rudimentary or absent. A spine, or scute, or pair of scutes behind the vent. 

 Scales absent. Lateral line conspicuous, sinking rapidly anteriorly. Teeth lanceolate in 

 jaws, sometimes larger in front. No teeth in palatines. Air bladder present. Gill mem- 



