300 T HACHTPTEUl VM . 



Fam. 27. TRACHYPTERIDJE. 



Taenioidel, part., Cuv., M'dll., Owen. 

 Gymnetridse, Gray, Syn. Bnt. Mm. 1842, p. 149. 



Body elongate, strongly compressed, naked ; eye lateral ; cleft of 

 the mouth small, with the dentition feeble. One dorsal fin, occupying 

 the whole length of the back, with a detached anterior portion, and 

 composed of flexible rays which are neither articulated nor branched. 

 Anal absent ; caudal not in the longitudinal axis of the fish, or ru- 

 dimentary ; v6ntrals thoracic. Gill-opening wide ; branchiostegals 

 six ; gills four ; pseudobranchiae well developed, situated in a pouch 

 formed by a fold of the mucous membrane {Trachypterus). Pyloric 

 appendages in exceedingly large number. Vertebrae in large number. 

 Bones soft ; muscles Kttle coherent. 



Deep-sea fishes, found at present on the shores of the Atlantic 

 and Mediterranean ; one species in the East Indies, another on the 

 west coast of South America, a third from New Zealand. Probably 

 they have a much wider range ; but their being so rarely thrown on 

 shore and their speedy decomposition have prevented naturalists from 

 observing them. It is very difficult to obtain specimens, and nearly 

 impossible to find perfect ones. Nothing is Imown of their deve- 

 lopment, and of the changes they undergo with age. Only a few 

 specimens have been carefuUy examined ; and in several species I shall 

 be obliged to restrict myself to an abstract from the original accounts. 



Synopsis of the Oenera. 



Ventralfl fins well developed 1. Teachyptebus, p. 300. 



Tail produced into an exceedingly long filament ... 2. Sttlophorus, p. 306. 

 Each ventral fin reduced to a long filament 3. Regalecus, p. 307. 



1. TRACHYPTEEUS. 



Taenia, part., Artedi, Synon. p. 114. 



Trachypterus, Gouan, Hist. Poiss. pp. 104, 153 ; Cuv. 8f Vol. x. p. 313. 



Ventral fins well developed, composed of several more or less 

 branched rays. 



Coasts of Europe. West coast of South America. 



1. Trachypterus spinolsB. 



Trachypterus spinolae, Cuv. ^ Val. x. p. 328. pi. 296. 



D. 7 I 137-139 (-160). A. 0. C. 7/5. P. 11. V. 1/4. 



The height of the body is one-fourth of the total length, the 

 length of the head one-fifth ; a series of two or three blackish 

 blotches on the side of the body. 



