BCOPELID.E. 393 



Fam. 5. SCOPELIDjE. 



Scopelini, part., Midi. Berl. Abhandl. 1§44, p. 184. 



Body naked or scaly. Margin of the upper jaw 

 formed by the intermaxillary only; opercular appa- 

 ratus sometimes incompletely developed. Barbels 

 none. Gill-opening very wide ; pseudobranchise well 

 developed. Air-bladder none. Adipose fin present. 

 The eggs are enclosed in the sacs of the ovarium, and 

 excluded by oviducts. Pyloric appendages few in 

 number or absent. Intestinal tract very short. 



Pelagic or deep-sea fishes. 



These fishes show a great resemblance in their family characters 

 to the Siluroids ; they might be called the marine Siluroids, as I 

 have formerly shown in a paper on Alepidosaurus. Further re- 

 searches in this and other families have convinced me that I have 

 laid too much value on the character of the absence of scales in that 

 genus, and that it is hardly entitled to form a family by itself. 



I divide the fishes of this family into the following groups and 

 genera : — 



A Dorsal fin in, or nearly in the middle of the length of the body, 

 short or of moderate length : Satteina. 



a. Body scaly,, without phosphorescent spots. 



Maxillary narrow behind ; none of the teeth are barbed ; teeth on the palate in a 

 single band on each side 1. Saurus, p. 394. 



Maxillary narrow behind ; none of the teeth are barbed ; teeth on the palate in a 

 double band on each side 2. Saurida, p. 399. 



Canine teeth of the lower jaw barbed at the point. 



3. JEarpodon, p. 401. 

 Maxillary dilated behind ; dorsal fin with fifteen or more rays. 



4. Aulopus, p. 402. 



Maxillary dilated behind ; dorsal fin witn less than fifteen rays. 



5. Chlorophthalmus, p. 403. 



/3. Body scaly, with phosphorescent spots. 



Body rather compressed, covered with large scales : 1. lat. 30-40. 



6. Scopelus, p. 404. 



Body elongate, cylindrical, covered with scales of moderate size : 1. lat. ca 60 



7. Scopelosaurus, p. 417. 

 y. Body naked. 



Teeth unequal in size, some being long, lance-shaped. 



8. Odontostomub > p. 417. 



