DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 203 



braues separate, free from istliiuus. Gills four, with a slit bcliiucl the fourth. AbdomiiKil 

 and caudal vertebrie numerous. Pyloric caica iu large numbers. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF LEPIDOPIDiE. 



I. Dorsal continuous. Teeth (ju palatines. Veutrals present, scale-like, rudimentary. No post-anal spine 



LlCl'IDOI'IN.K 



A. Body high. Head with crest. Teeth iu jaws lanceolate in single rows. Pectorals broad, furcate. 



Ventrals inserted consideral)ly behind pectorals. 



1. Head rather long, with lateral occipital crests converging anteriorly. Orbit near to ]irolilc. 



Maxillary carved and upper jaw shorter than lower Lepidopus 



2. Head rather short, high, compressed above into a trenchant edge. I'rolile convex, declivous, far 



from orbit. Mouth somewhat obli(iae. Maxillary straight. Jaws e((ual Evoxymetopon 



B. Body low. Head crcstless. Anterior teeth long, compressed, posterior ones acicular; a few minute 



teeth outside of anterior long ones. Pe<:torals slender, rounded. Ventrals under root of 

 pectorals. 

 1. Head rather long, depressed, with orbits encroaching upon profile. JIaxillarj' curved. Lower 

 jaw projecting BENTiioDE.sMrs 



II. Dorsal in two subequal portions, closely contiguous. No teeth on iialatiues. Ventrals absent. A 



dagger-like post-ana Ispine Aph.\nopix.e 



A. Head long, pointed. Eye very largo, not close to profile. Upper jaw slightly curved, lower slightly 

 projecting Aphanopus 



LEPIDOPUS, Gouan. 



Lepido2)us, Gouan, Historia Piscium, 1770, 185. — Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. viii, 218. — 



GiJNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mas. ii, 1800, 342; Cliallenger Report, xxii, 1887, 37. 

 VandeUiiis, Shaw, Zoology, iv, p. l'J9. 

 Zii>liotlieca, Montagu, AVeru. Mem., i, 82, Pis. ii-iii; ii, 432. 



Body very elongate, band-like, scaleless; head pointed, with lateral occipital crests con- 

 verging anteriorly; cleft of the mouth wide, the jaws being armed with strong lanceolate 

 teeth in a single series, larger ones in front ; a series of minute teeth on the margins of tlie 

 palatines. Nodules oblique. Eyes large. Along the whole of the back one single dorsal 

 flu; anal spines numerous, but minute or hidden beneath the skin; no i)ost-anal spines; 

 caudal well developed; ventral fins rudimentary, inserted behind the pectorals. Twoi)Ost- 

 anal scutes. Eight branchiostegals ; air-bladder present. Pyloric ca«a somewhat numer- 

 ous. Type, Lepi(lo2>us Goiiaiii, Bl. 



LEPIDOPUS CAUDATUS, (Exturasex), White. (Figure 213.) 



Trkhiurus caiidatits, Eupiira.sen, StO(^kh. K. Vet. Acad. Nya. Handl., 1788, ix, 52, Tab. 9, Fig. 2. 

 Lepidopus laudatus, White, List of Hrit. Fishes, 1851, 32. — Gijntiier, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mns. ii, 344 (with 

 extended symmyniy). 



Height of the body lo^ in the total length, the caudal det^ply forked. Anal spines iu 

 great number — minute, if visible. Color, uniform silvery. 



Radial formula: D. 102-104; A. 24-5. 



Ctec. Pylor. 23. Vertebne 41 + 71. (Giinther.) This form has been taken many times 

 during the century, from Norway to South Africa, and the Mediterranean. It evidently lives 

 at considerable depth and comes rarely to the surface. It has not been found in the AVest- 

 ern Atlantic. A specimen was obtained by John Xantus de Vesey at Cape St. Lucas, and 

 the species is also known as the "Frost-fl.sh," about Tasmania and New Zealand, where, 

 according to Lendenfeld, it occurs periodically in great numbers, evidently coming up from 

 the depths to deposit its spawn near tlie shore.' 



EVOXYMETOPON (Poey) Gill. 

 Eroi\jmt1opo», (PoEV,) Glix, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1803, 228. 



Ilody very elongate, band like; head with the supraocular portion coin])ressed into a. 

 trencthant edge, and tlie uppta- profile abruptly descending towards the end of tlie snout; 

 eye of moderate size, much below the upper profile. Cleft of the mouth wide: teeth lance- 



'Zoiilogischer Auzeiger, 1883, 559. 



