33* alep0cephal1d.e alepocepiialus. 257 



Family XXXIIL— ALEPOCEPHALID.E. 



Body oblong, compressed, covered with thin cycloid or keeled scales, 

 or witli naked, jn'ickly skin. Head naked. Lateral line developed. No 

 barbels. Mouth moderate or large. IMargin of the ui)per jaw formed 

 by the premaxillaries and the maxillaries, the former being placed along 

 the npper anterior edge of the latter. Teeth feeble. Opercular aji- 

 paratus complete, its bones thin. Ko adipose fin. Dorsal fin long 

 and low, posterior, inserted opposite the anal; ijectorals short, i)laced 

 rather high ; ventrals usually well back, sometimes wanting. Gill-open- 

 ings very wide, the membranes free from the isthmus. Pseudobranchiai 

 present. No gular plate. No air-bladder. Stomach curved, without 

 blind sac. Pyloric coeca in moderate number. Fishes of the deep seas; 

 but one species known until recently. Lately 3 genera and 7 species 

 have been described from the abyssal fauna3 of the mid Atlantic and 

 Pacific. 



(Alepocephalidai Giintlier, vii, 477.) 



a. Scales cycloid ; dorsal and anal subequal, opposite each other; mouth small ; jaws 

 nearly even; small teeth in jaws, vomer, and pahitines.ALEPOCEPHALUS, 115. 



115.— ALEPOCEPI1AI.US Risso. 



(Risso, Mem. Acad. Nat. Sci. Tvirin, xxv, 270, 1.^20: type Alepocephahts rosfraUiH Risso. 

 from the Mediterranean.) 



Body oblong, compressed. Mouth rather small, the snout somewhat 



prolonged. Jaws nearly equal in front ; a series of small teeth in each 



jaw and on the vomer and palatines. Eye very large. Gill-membranes 



entirely separate. Branchiostegals G. Opercular bones thin. Dorsal 



low and rather long, with a scaly base, opposite and similar to the 



anal. Pectorals and ventrals rather small. Caudal moderatelj' forlvcd. 



Scales rather large, thin and cycloid. Deep-sea fishes of the Atlantic 



and ^Mediterranean. («, privative; ).£-i-, scale; r.-cpali]^ head.) 



430. A. bairdii Goode & Bran. 



Uniform indigo-blue, the color extending to the inside of the mouth 

 and the gill-membranes. Body rather elongate. Head moderately 

 compressed, subcorneal, the lower jaw included. Maxillary extending 

 nearly to below middle of eye. Eye large, as long as snout. Dorsal 

 slightly in advance of anal. Head 4^ in length; depth %. I). 2L*; A. 

 25 ; p. 1L>; V. T, 9 ; pyloric caca 15; B. C; scales 7-05-1 1. L. 24 inches, 

 (^rand Banks; dredged at a depth of 200 fathoms. {Goodc tO Bean.) 



(Goode &. r.oan, Proc. U. S. Nut. Mns. ii, 5j, l^'ro.) 



Bull. Nat. Mus. No. IG 17 



