PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 469 



LOPniID.E. 



2. Lophius piscatorius, Liiui. 



A si)ecimen, No. 26170, 20™ loug, containing" immature ova, was taken 

 at station 804, at a depth of 3G5 fathoms; also a Uirge specimen with 

 immature ova, No. 20098, from station 87(), 120 fathoms; and a smaller 

 one, perhaps two years old, No. 20070, from station 878, 142^ fathoms. 



3. Mancalias uranoscopus (Miivray) Gill. 



Ceratias ura>to8copu8, Murraa', in Wyvillc Tlionipson, The Athmtic, 1878, ii, 



p. 67, fig. 20 (Am. ed.). 

 Mancalias uranoscopus, Gill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. i, 1878 (Oct. 17), p. 228. 



A single specimen. No. 20159, 185"™ long-, was taken October 2 at sta- 

 tion No. 893, at a depth of 372 fathoms. It is of much interest, only one 

 sjjeciraen having hitherto been found. This was dredged July 23, 1873, 

 by H. M. S. Challenger, southeast of Madeira (hit. 22° 18' N., long. 22^ 

 ^' W.), at a depth of 2,300 fathoms (temperature 1° 05' C). Mr. Mur- 

 ray's description, which is sufficiently accurate except that our si)eci- 

 men has four instead of three rays in the second dorsal, runs as follows: 

 The specimen is 90""" in length from the snout to the end of the tail, 

 compressed laterally, and of a uniform black color. The anterior spine 

 of the first dorsal fin is produced into a loug filament, ending in a pear- 

 shaped bulb, terminating in a very distinct, semi-transparent, whitish 

 spot. This spine has its origin on the posterior portion of the head, and 

 when laid back it reaches nearly to the tip of the tail. The second part 

 of the first dorsal is placed far back on the body, and consists of two 

 short, fleshy tubercles, which lie in a depression in front of the second 

 dorsal fin. The second dorsal has three rays; the anal is opposite the 

 second dorsal and has four rays; the caudal has eight rays, the four 

 central rays being much larger than the others, and bifid. The pectorals 

 are small and have ten very delicate rays. The gill-opening is a slit 

 situated below the pectoral fin. The upper jaw Ik formed by the inter- 

 maxillaries, and is armed, together with the lower jaw, v»ith u series of 

 teeth of moderate size, which can be depressed inward as in Lophius. 

 The skin is thickly covered with minute, embedded, conical spines. The 

 eyes are very small and are placed high up on the middle of the head. 

 The presence of a fish of this group at so great a depth is of s[)ecial in- 

 terest. From its structure, and from the analogy of its nearest allies, 

 there seems to be no reasonable doubt that it lives on the bottom. It is 

 the habit of many of the family to lie hidden in the mud, with the long 

 dorsal filament and its terminal soft expansion exposed. It has been 

 imagined that the expansion is used as a bait to allure its prey, but it 

 seems more likely that it is a sense-organ intended to give notice of their 

 approach. 



