376 DEEP-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



till' upiJor one. Jaws covered wiMi line teeth in bauds; vomer and palatines toothless. 

 Diameter of the eye one-fourth the length of the head; interorbital space much less, about 

 two-elevenths of tlie length of the head. No barbel. Vent nearly median. Scales small, 

 about 12'2 (as nearly as could be ascertained by Vaillant) in the lateral line; seven above and 

 thirty below. The lateral line is near the dorsal outline. 



First dorsal inserted behind the vertical from the base of the pectorals and short; the 

 second placed close to the first, and extending almost to the base of the foremost rays of 

 the caudal. First anal under the vertical from the fourteenth to the sixteenth ray of the 

 second dorsal, terminating nearly under the tenth from the last ray of the same fin. The 

 anal is deejaly uotched, its twenty-seventh ray being longer than any of tlie preceding ones, 

 while the twenty-sixth is very short. The form of these two flns is best expressed by the 

 accompanying illustration. Pectorals moderate, ventrals exceedingly short. 



Eadial formula: D. 8 + 56; A. 2G+'22; V. 5. 



Color reddish-brown ; silvery upon the cheeks and below. Pectorals dark. Mouth 

 and branchial cavity intense black. 



A single specimen was obtained by the French explorers at station xxi, oft' the coast of 

 Morocco, at a depth of 1,319 meters. It was in very bad condition, and the description of 

 Vaillant is confessedly imperfect. 



No figure of the other species, Halargyreus Johnsonii, has ever been published. Vail- 

 lant distinguishes his species from that of Giinther by the following characteristics: First, 

 by the shape of the head, which in M. hreviiies is broader than high, in H. Johnsonii higher 

 than broad ; by the longer maxillary in the latter, in which also the lower jaw does not pass 

 the u])per one; by the more advanced position of the dorsal in the latter, which begins in 

 the vertical from the root of the pectorals; and also by the prolongation of the first ventral 

 ray. The head of R. Johnsonii would appear, from the figure of Vaillant, to be shorter than 

 that of n. hrcvijtes. 



It is very desirable that more material should be studied before two species of Halar- 

 gyreus are fully accepted. 



HALARGYREUS JOHNSONII, Giinther. 



Ealargyreus Johnsonii. GiiNTnER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Miis., iv, 18, 342 (Madeira, from stomach o{ Saccopliari/nx) ; 

 Challenger Report, xxil, 1837, 83. 



Head rather elongate and compressed, its length being equal to the distance between 

 the vent and the root of the ventrals; it is much higher than broad, its greatest height 

 being more than one-half of its length. The snout is obtusely conical, a little longer than 

 the diameter of the eye, which is onefoiuth of the length of the head. Cleft of the mouth 

 ■wide, the maxillary extending beyond the vertical from the middle of the eye. Upper jaw 

 without lip, that of the lower very thin; the lower is received within the upper, both being 

 equal in length auteriorlj'. A small bony tubercle, pointing obliquely forwards and down- 

 wards, occupies the lower part of the symphysis of the mandibles. The upper and lower 

 jaws are armed with a narrow band of minute teeth of equal size. The interorbital space 

 is tiattish, and its width lather less than the vertical diameter of the orbit. Preoper- 

 culum rounded; operculum and suboperculum each terminating in a very small spine, both 

 spines close together. The caudal fin is separated from the other vertical fins by a free 

 j)e(luncle. 



B ranchiostegals 7; gill openings very wide, the gill membranes scarcely united below 

 the anterior third of the orbit; gills 4, a clift behind the fourth: the first branchial arch 

 is provided anteriorly with long gill rakers, longer than the lamella' of the gills. 



The gTcatest depth of the trunk is equal to the distance between the anterior margin 

 of the orbit and the end of the operculum. The anterior dorsal commences immediately 

 behind the vertical from the root of the pectoral, and is composed of very slender, simple, 

 and articulated rays, the anterior of which is the longest, half as long as the head. The 

 second dorsal commences immediately beliind the first, and is not much lower, its base being 

 covered by a thiu scaly membrane. The vent is situated in the vertical from the ninth ray 



