DISCUSSION OF SPECIES iVND THEIR DISTRIBUTION. 415 



obtuse. Head without prominent ridges, witli wide iiuieiferous cavities. Dorsal lin i)lantcd 

 over origin of pectorals, its longest spine smooth. Pectorals i)hiced high, opposite upper 

 angle of gill cleft. Scales small, bristly. Lateral line originating at upper angle of gill 

 cleft. 



Malacocephalus occurs in the northeastern, southeastern, and southwestern Atlantic, 

 the Mediterranean and the Bay of Bengal. 



The Macruruti inacrochir assigned here by Dr. CHinther does not ajipcar to us to be con- 

 generic with Malacoccpknlus Iwris. We have therefore proposed for it a new genus under 

 the name Abyssicola, the diagnostic characters of which are given on page ■117. 



MALACOCEPHALUS L^EVIS, (Lowk), Gunthek. 



Macrurus Iwvis, Lowe, Proc. ZoiJl. Soc, London, 1843, itl'. ' 



Macriirus (Malacocephalun) hvvis, GiJNTHER, Challenger Kejiort, xxii, 1887, 118, pi. xxxix, fig. I!; Ann. and 



Mag. Nat. Hist., Dec, 1889, 418.— Alcock, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 188!t, 398. 

 Malacocephalus Imvis, GuNTHER. Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus.. iv. 397. — Lutken, Vid. Meddel. Nat. Foren., Kjobenliavn, 



1872, 1.— MoKEAU, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Franco, in, 284. 



Head compressed, with vertical sides; nmciferous (cavities wide. Snout obtusely coni- 

 cal, slightly projecting beyond the mouth, the cleft of which is oblique, anterior and lateral, 

 and extending somewhat behind the- middle of the eye. Teeth of the upi)er Jaw biserial, 

 those of the outer series much stronger than the inner; mandibulary teeth uuiseiial. Bar- 

 bel shorter than the eye. The interorbital space tlat, its width being equal to or less than 

 the diameter of the eye, which is large, longer than the snout, and one-third or two-seventlis 

 of the length of the head. Scales very small, much deeper than long, covered with .short 

 minute bristles. Praioperculum with the posterior margin slightly excised above the angle, 

 and with the lower margin not serrated. The entire head is covered with minute, rough 

 scales. Anterior dorsal spine smooth. Pectoral tin about two-thirds of the length of the 

 head. The vent (Fig. b) is close to the root of the ventrals, which reach beyond it; it lies 

 at the end of an oval scaleless depression, and there is another triangular scaleless s])ace 

 between the roots of the ventrals. Distance between the vent and the isthmus two-thirds 

 of the length of the liead. 



Brownish above, sides silvery; axil, ventrals and the region in front of them black; 

 branchial cavity partly black, inside of the mouth white. (Uilnther.) 



Eadial fornuila: D. 13-14; P. 17; V. 0. 



The type, KJ inches long, obtained by Lowe at Madeira, is in the British Museum, where 

 it was examined by us in 1883. Lutken has found the species on the coast of Denmark, 

 and Giinther records its capture southwest of Ireland in L'.">0 fathoms and in the ]\Iedi- 

 terraneau. The Challenger obtained a single specimen off the coast of Pernamlnico (station 

 12ii) in 350 fathoms. The Investigator obtained a form supposed by Alcock to be identical 

 with this in the Andaman Sea in 205 fathoms, and in the Laccadive Sea in 188-220 fathoms. 

 It has not yet been observed in the northwestern Atlantic. 



Glinther's revised diagnosis is given above. 



MALACOCEPHALUS OCCIDENTALIS, Goode and Bean. (Doubtful siiocics). 

 Malacnccphalus ncHdentalis, Goode and Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1885, .598. 



Small specimens, 37330, in imperfect condition were obtained from Albatross station 

 2310, north latitude 35° 44', west longitude 74-^ 51' (length 154 millimeters and 203 milli- 

 meters), at a depth of 132 tathoms, and from Blalce station Lxxsiii, off Granada, at a 

 depth of 104 fathoms (length 141 millimeters). They correspond in the main with Giin- 

 ther'sfuU description ofMalaeocephalus laris, hnt differ in the position of the vent, the 

 ventrals, and the anal fin; the latter commencing at a distance b ehind the vent equal to 



' Maci-urus la:vis. M. pallidus, griseus, lueidus, lanigatus lissinis areolato-scabcr, inermis; squaniis 

 inconspieuis minutis; capite rostro.ine acnto abbreviatis, simplicibus (nee cffilatis uec carinatis); ouuis 

 rotuudatis; dentibus in maxilla infeiiore validis, uuiseriatis; piumc dorsalis prim;u radio pnmo mermi. 



ID. 1+9; 2.D. et. A. 8; P. 15; V. 1 + 7. 



