458 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



coast. Many of them inhabit considerable depths in the ocean. The 

 young often difler widely in appearance from the adult. 



(Beryc'ul(e Giiuthev, i, 8-50; exclusive of certain genera.) 



a. Dorsal fin coutimious, tlio spinous part short ; anal spines 3 ; abdomen serrated. 



HOPLOSTETHUS, 238. 



aa. Dorsal fin deeply emargiuate, the sj^inous part long ; anal spines 4. 



HOLOCENTRUS, 2J50. 



23§.— HOPI.OSTETHUS Cuv. & Val. 



(Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, 463, 1829: type Hoplostcthus mcditerm- 

 iieiis Cuv. & Val.) 



Body short and deep, much compressed. Head short, compressed, 

 very blunt anteriorly, deeper than long, with very conspicuous mucous 

 cavities. Eye very large. Mouth very oblique, the jaws equal when 

 the mouth is closed. Maxillary long, broad behind, with a distinct sup- 

 plemental bone, which reaches the posterior border of the eye. Teeth 

 very fine, villiform, on jaws and palatines, none on the vomer. Sub- 

 orbital with radiating ridges and a few spines; a vertical ridge on the 

 front of the opercle. Opercle little developed, its spine small or obso- 

 lete; a strong spine at the angle of the preopercle; the long vertical 

 limb of the preopercle finely serrated. Gill-membranes separate, free 

 from the isthmus. Branchiostegals 8. Scales moderate or small, 

 ctenoid; lateral line present, its scales enlarged; abdomen with a series 

 of bony jilates each, ending in a retrose spine. Dorsal fin continuous, 

 short, the si)ines graduated, C in number; anal with 3 graduated spines; 

 caudal forked, its rudimentary rays spinous; pectorals low, rather long; 

 ventrals F, C, rather short. Air-bladder simple. Pyloric cceca numerous. 

 Vertebrre 11-1-15. Deep-sea fishes. {uttXoc;, armed ; arsOoc^ breast.) 



'3'11>. M. BjiedaterrasneMS C. & V. 



Silvery, ros^^ in life ; fins scarlet, peritoneum and inside of mouth 

 black. Eye very large, much longer than snout, forming about one-third 

 the length of head. Abdominal plates 9-13 in number. Body above with 

 very small rougtliish scales ; sides nearly or quite naked (in the young 

 example seen), scaly in the adult. Pectorals reaching first soft ray of 

 anal; ventrals to vent; fins rather low. Head 2.^; depth 1^. D. VI, 

 IG; A. Ill, 8; Lat. 1. 28. Length of specimen 3 inches, lately dredged 

 by the U. S. Fish Commission off Chesapeake Bay. Coasts of Southern 

 Europe. 



(C. &, V. iv, 439; Giinther, i, 9: Travliichtlnjs sjicciosus Lowe, Fish. Madeira, 651.) 



