28G CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



6. Vomer and palatines witli teetli Echiostoma, 135. 



U. Vouier and palatines tootliless Malacosteus, 130. 



** Adipose fin present; dorsal in front of anal; body naked. {Astronestlnnw.) 



ASTRONESXHES, 137. 



134.— STOMIAS Cnvier. 



(Cuvier, Regne Auim. ii, 1817: type Esox boa Risso, from the Mediterranean.) 



Bodj^ elongate, compressed, covered witli exceedingly fine and decid- 

 uous scales, whicli are scarcely imbricated, lying in subliexagoual de- 

 pressions in the skin. Head compressed, the snout very short and the 

 cleft of the mouth extremely large. Mouth oblique, the lower jaw pro- 

 jecting. Teeth pointed, unequal, those of the premaxillaries and mandi- 

 ble very large ; maxillary with fine teeth ; vomer with a pair of fangs ; 

 Ijalatines and tongue with smaller pointed teeth. Eye moderate. Oper- 

 cular portion of the head short ; a large fleshy barbel suspended from 

 the hyoid region. Vent far back. Dorsal comparatively long, far back, 

 opposite the anal. Pectorals and ventrals rather small, and short, the 

 latter far back. Caudal fin moderate. Lower side of head, body, and 

 tail with series of phosphorescent dots. Gill-openings very wide. Xo 

 pyloric coeca. Singular fishes of the deep waters of the Atlantic. 

 {fTTOfjAac;^ " mouthy," from a-u/jM., mouth.) 



* Hyoid barbel not frin<^ed. 



470. S. feirox Reinhardt. 



Black. jSTeither i^ectorals nor ventrals produced. Caudal rounded. 

 Depth about 12 in total length; head 10. D. 17; A. 21; P. G; V. G. 

 {Gllnther.) Greenland, south to Cape Cod, in deep water. 



(Reinkardt, Vidensk. Selsk. Natnrv. etc. s, p. Ixxvii ; Giintlier, v, 426.) 

 135.— ECMflOSTOMA Lowe. 

 (Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 1843, 87: typo Echiostoma harhaiiim Lowe.) 



Body elongate, compressed, scaleless. Head ratlier compressed, the 

 snout short and the cleft of the mouth very wide. Teeth pointed, un- 

 equal, those of the premaxillary and the front of the lower jaw being 

 longest; maxillary teeth in a single series, those of the lower two-thirds 

 being small; teeth of the hinder i^art of the mandible in a double or 

 triple series; vomer with a pair of fangs; palatines with a single series 

 of small pointed teeth; two groups of similar teeth on the tongue. Eye 

 of moderate size. Opercular portion of the head very narrow and flex- 

 ible; a flesh}^ barbel on the centre of the hyoid region. Dorsal fin far 

 back, opposite anal. Caudal forked. Vent not far in advance of caudal 

 fin. Pectorals and ventrals feeble, the latter behind the middle of the 



