5U0 DEEl'-SEA FISHES OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN. 



HALIEUTELLA, Goode and Bean. 



llaUeuleUa, CJoonn and Bean, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, ii, 1882, 88. 



Body maltheit'orm, subcirciilar, depressed, its width equal to its lougtli; covered with 

 flaccid, inflatable .skiu. Spines feeble and less numerous than in HalieuUea. Head merged 

 in body; toreliead witli a transverse bony ridge; no perceptible supraoral cavity; no ten- 

 tacle. Mouth small, terminal; lower Jaw slightly curved forward. Teeth in the jaws 

 minute, cardiform; not discernible on palate, though possibly present. Carpus broad, 

 slightly exserted. Pectoral fins remote from tail, obli(|ue]y placed, with membranes sub- 

 vertical. Branchial aperture posterior to carjius, upon the disk, and not remote from its 

 margin. Gills 2 J. Teeth on palate. Dorsal flu 5-rayed, inserted at junction of disk with 

 caudal peduncle. Anal flu 1-rayed, originating at root of caudal i)eduncle. 



IIALIEUTELLA LAPPA, Go<)I>k and Bean. (Figures 412, A, B.) 



Ifalioitella lappa, Goode and Bean, loc. cit. 



Disk subcircular, more than two-thirds as long as the body. Body covered Avith a 

 loose, flaccid, inflatable skin, which so obscures its proportions that it is impossible to de- 

 termine its exact height, but it is not nearly so much depressed as in the related genera. 

 When the body is inflated the lieight and length of the disk ai'e nearly equal. 



Spines rather feeble ; about 10 between snout and dorsal fin. About G strong spines, with 

 conical bases and stellular tips on the outer margin of the disk on each side, the anterior 

 of them being opposite tlie eye. In front of these spines on the discal margin, and between 

 them and the snout, are several small, simple spines, pointing backward. Belly armed 

 with spines similar to those on the back, but weaker. A stellate spine upon the tip of the 

 snout, with two weaker, simple spines on each side. Nasal openings nudway between eye 

 and tip of snout. Mouth small, upon the margin of the disk. The upper jaw is shorter than 

 the diameter of the eye. Teeth as described in the generic diagnosis. Dorsal flu inserted 

 at posterior limit of disk, with flve simple, articulated rays, its longest ray one-ttfth as long- 

 as the disk. Anal flu with four simple, articulated rays, inserted directly beneath the 

 fourth ray of the dorsal ; its second, and longest, ray one-fourth as long as the disk. Caudal 

 twice as long as anal, and slightly longer than caudal peduncle, with nine simple, articu- 

 lated rays. Carpus inserted at ai distance from the snout equal to twice the length of the 

 longest pectoral ray, which is slightly greater than the distance of jiosterior margin of 

 carpus, at its junction with disk, from vent. Number of pectoral rays, 15. Ventral in- 

 serted at a point equidistant from the snout and the origin of the anal; length of its longest 

 ray (the fourth) equal to one-half the distance of tlie anal flu from the snout. 



Itadial formuhi: D. 5; A. 4; C. 9; P. 15; V. .5. 



Color, yellowish white. 



A single specimen, 1^ inches long, was dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer 

 Fish Hawlc at station 1151, N. lat. 39° 58' 30", W. Ion. 70° 37', in a depth of 125 fathoms, 



DIBRANCHUS, Peters. 



Dibrniichus, Peteus, Mouatsberiolite, Kiinig. Akad. Wiss., Berlin, 1875-'76, 736, (type, 7). «(/«H/i(Hs, Peters). — 



Gill. Prop. IJ. S. Nat. Mus., i, 231. 

 Halkuttva, (part) Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., in, 467.^JoiiDAN andGiLnuRT, Hnll. xvi,ll. S. Nat. Mus., 851. 



Maltheids with head merged in body, very large, much depressed, forming a broadly 

 ovate disk, with nuirgiu prolonged laterally to a greater extent than in the allied genera. 

 Cranial portion of disk not elevated. Interorbital area low, narrow, with orbits partly 

 superior. Supra-oral cavity large, protected above by transverse bony ridge. 



Mouth terminal, horizontal, wide; lower jaw convex, teeth in cardiform bands upon 

 jaws; vomer and palatines edentulous. 



BrauchiiB 2, the first and fourth arches without lamellne, the fourth arch inconspicu- 

 ous. Branchial apertures small, anterior to pectoral and ui)on disk. 



