DISCUSSION OF SPECIES AND THEIK DISTRIlUi'riON. 475 



J'KHISTEliIdN TKlNCATrM, (iiN'Tni.!;. 

 I'cristilliKx Iniiirdliiiii. (ii ntiif.k, ('li;illcii,i;er i;i]Miit i, l';ii( (i. 1S.S(I. 7. )il. ii. lij;. A. 



Tin- leiigtli of tlic prcorhital ]iroccss('s is contained twice and tlircc-fourtlis in (lie dis- 

 tance between their exticniitics and the anterior niar.dn <)f the orhit. Intcrorhital si)ai'e 

 deeply concave, with a depressed smooth <iroovc alonjn- the niiddh'; a uiinnte spine on the 

 base of each preorbital jirocess. but no otiier on tiie upju-r snrface of the snout ; h)wer jaw 

 with enormous barltels, tlie hmgest beinj; lrin<;'cii. The iireoiiercular ridj;c (hies not extend 

 beyond the liind margin of the lione, and is not produced into a spine: also the opercular 

 ridge terminates in a sliorf and (rnncatcd i>rojection. Each scute of the body with a 

 liookcd sjiine. Each of the liony plates between the ventral liiis is not quite twice as long 

 as broad. Ilose-colored, with small, iiiegiilar brownish spots on the n])i)cr jiarts. 



Eadial formula: ]). Vlt, 111; A. 1>0; L. la I. 32. 



The type of this sjiecies, a specimen (U incites long, was taken by the ChtiUouier at. 

 station Vl'l, off the coast of I'ernandiuco, in .")() or .S.")(» fat lionis oi- in some intermediate depth. 



Dr. Giinther, though, unwilling to commit himself as to the bathybial habitat of any of 

 the forms collected by the ChaJlcnficr at station lUl', |)referring to include them all in his 

 report n])on the shoretishes, has nevertheless described one of the (Ishes there taken, under 

 the very signiticant name of Hdlln/anfliiKx. 



Suborder T^GNIOSOMI. 



Tdviosomi, Glix, Americ.iii Naturalist, xxi, 1.SX7, Nii; \\i\ , ISHd, .181. 



Teleocephals with the scapular arch subnormal, post temporal undivided and closely 

 applied to the liack of the cranium, between tli<' epiotic and pterotic^, or njion the i)ariefal; 

 hypercoracoid perfoiate at or near the nnngiii: cranium with the e])iotics enlarged, en- 

 croaching backward an<l juxtaposed liehind, intervening between the cxoccijiitals and 

 su]naocci|iatal: ]iiootic and the o|)isthotic represented chielly by the eidarged prootic; 

 suboibital chain imperfect: the sca])ular bones se|)arated l)y intervening cartilaginous ele- 

 ments; thehyi)oiiliaryngeals stylitorm and i>araliel with the Inanrhial arches; <'pi|iharyn- 

 geals in l\ill number (4 pairs), and mostly <'ompressed; the doisal tin compo.sed of inarticu- 

 late rays or spines, sciiarable into lateral halves, and the ventrals (when jireserd) .sub- 

 bracliial. 



A myodonie may be jiresent or absent, noiu' being developed in the llegalecida-, but 

 one being distinct and siipiilemented by a dicliost in the Tiacliyplei ida-. {(lill.) 



"The ribbon tishes," says (liinther, '-are true deei)-.sea lishcs. met with in all i)arts of 

 the oceans, generally found when tioating dead on the surface, or thrown ashore by the 

 waves. Their body is like a band, .siiecimens of from 1.'. to 20 feet long being from Id to 

 12 inches deep and about an inch or two broad at their thickest part. The eye is large 

 and lateral; the mouth small, ai'iiied with very feeble teeth: the head deep and .short. A 

 high dorsal tin runs along the wliole length of the back, and is supported by extremely 

 numerous rays; its foremost jxirtion, on the head, is detached from Ihe lest of the tin, and 

 composed of Very elongate tlcxilile spines. The anal tin is absent. The camlal liii (if [.re- 

 served, which is rarely the case, in adult specimens) has an extra-axial po.siti.m, being 

 directed uj-wards like a fan. The ventrals are thoracic, either composed of several rays <.r 

 reduced to a single long tilament. The coloiatioii is generally silvery, with rosy fius. 



"When the.se fishes reach the snrface of the wal< r the cxi.ansion of the ga.scs withm 

 their b.Mlies has so loo.sen<'d all the parts of their muscular and bony system that th.-y can 

 be lifted out of the watei with ditticulty only, and nearly always |.ortions of the body and 

 tins are broken and lost. The bones contain very little bony matter, are very ponms, thin, 

 and light At what depth ribbon fishes live is not known; |nobably the depths vary for 

 dilterent si.ecies; but although ncmc have been yet obtained by. means of the deep-sea 

 dredge, they must be abundant at (he bottom of all ...•cans, as dca.l li.shes ..r tragments ot 

 them are frequently obtained. Wome writers have suiqio.scd from th.' great length and 

 narrow shape of these tishes that they liavc be.-n mistaken for -sea .serpents,' but as these 



