(ii;ENAi)ii;i;-FiMii;s. 



583 



first ilursnl (10) and (lit- ventral tins ('J) an.l l.y the form of llic 

 arllicsive ventral disk. Tlic specimen would tlitis seem Ici belong to 

 a species tliat also occurs within tlie limits of tlie Scandinavian fauna. 

 But GOnther" lias described a Mediterranean fisli that in anotlier publi- 

 cation by GiGi.ioi.i'' had been named Macruviis {Hijmenoccphabis, 

 M;/sli(rniiuriis) ilaliciis, and to this species, which is dislinguislied 

 from .\/iicriii-tts Icrvis by small, villiform teetli in tlic lower as well 

 us in tlic upper jaw and by larger (fewer) scales, our larva may be 

 more properly referred. Tlic nitist inlrresting points in (his larva, 

 however, arc tlic tadpulc-likc form of the body, a form whiclc is per- 

 sistent in ^fiicrurus c^•assH•eJ^s, the short snout with thi- umuth set 

 in tlie iiosition normal ninong the Aiictcanthini, tlio shafted jicctoral 

 fins, a trace of the oldest period of the piscine type — though con- 

 siderably altered by the liroad form of the pectoral disks — , the 

 evanescent adhesive disk on the belly, and the long appendages to 

 the rays of the \entriil fins and to the tip of the t.'iil. These ap- 



pendages certainly pl.iy tlicir |iart in iissisting 

 itself in the water; but probably serve also t( 

 resembhinee to the stinging Medui'ir'. 



the larva to support 

 I give it a protective 



Siiiiic nf the iiiciiilici's iif this I'lnnih' Iim\c Ihiil;' 

 been kiKiwii, at lf:isl .■siiiic tlic times ul' S'l'lii'iM'' and 

 FAiiUKifs' ; liiit tile oreat wiaitli uf forms flint represent 

 it ill tlie alivsses (if the uee.iii, have lirst lieen diseovei-ed 

 and (leseribed in recent times by (n'N'riiKi/ and \'.\n.- 

 LAXT", BK(>\VN-(iiiii|ii: and Hi^.w*. AecdrdiiiL;' 1" ihc first- 

 mciitiiined writer the faiiiih' contains at least 4(1 spe- 

 cies, which lie distribntes amonii- 4 a'ciiera. Only one 

 of these genera is reiiresentcd in the Scandinavian fauna. 



Genus MACRURUS. 



First hr(nirl//iil arch iiriifcd ahorc aiid hcJoir mi the tnitsidv hii <i iiii'inhrtiiir In the inside (if the iijicrriilar apjxi- 



rutiis. IciiriiK/ (I fnriimoi at the middle irh/ch is nnieh smaller than tin' athcr (/ill-slits, nf irhiih ereii the last is 



complete, dill-rakers <ni the frst liraiiehial arch ttil>er( iilar. Braiichiostei/al memhranes united In each other. Chin 



famished a-ith a harhel. Dnrstd fins a-ell-sepa rated from each other. 



Within this oeiins, \\liich recei\-ed tin' name it now ' "With regard t(.i the fm-ni of the snout and [losi- 



bciirs of liuK'H', Guxtheu, the most eminent among j tion of the mouth, there exi.sts every gradation, from 

 those writers who have revised the arrangement of the \ the most siie<'iali7.ed types, such nfi Maerarus /aj)(i)iicHs 



genus, in his last treatment of the (question has united 

 several genera which he formerly regarded as distinct, 

 but which he has now reduced to the rank of sub- 

 genera. "The dredge of tlie Challenger," he writes', 

 "secured more than one hundred and fortv examples, 



aiid Macraras jtaridlehis, to JSLicnirus loiiffifilis. which 

 may be regarded as rei)reseiiting the original type 

 whence the others were derived. Its head is com- 

 pressed, well proportioned, formed by firm bones, the 

 superficial of which ciudosi.' a miiciferous system not 



referable to thirty species, and proved that this type ' more enlarged than we tind it in many surface fishes; 



of fishes is not onh' one of the most widelv sjiread in its snout is not more tumid or projecting than in the 



the depths of all oceans, but also extremely abundant majority of surface Gadoids, and the wide mouth ter- 



witli regard to species and individuals. These materials minal and lateral. As the mucifcrons cavities increa.se 



afforded the further evidence that the characters on in width, the bones are expanded into thin lamella- 



which I had relied for the generic groups of Maerurns, and lose in firmness, those of the infraorbital ring cover 



Cori/phcenoidcs, and Malacocephalus, did not possess more or less the side of the head, extend backwards 



the tiixonomic value assigned to them, with the ex- to the angle of the pra'operculum, and push the latter 



ception of the modifications of the dentition, which. backwards. The snout' becomes the receptacle of large 



however, were capable of more precise definition. or even enormously eidarged cavities, suiijiorted by 



" Deep Hea Fish, Challeng. Exped.. p. 140. 



» GiGLlOLl e ISSEL, Pelagos, p. 228. c. fig. (without description) — eilcd from Gintmep.. 1. o. To this i.ublication we have not had access. 



■■ Cf. above, p. 312, note b. 



'' Smdmors Beskrivelse (17i;2). vol. I, p. 2G7. 



' Fauna Groenlandicn (1780). 



' Deep Sea Fishes, Cliall. Exped. 



" Exped. Scient. dii Travailleur et dii Talisman, Poissons. 



'' Peport oil the Fishes, Dredg. 1880 U. S. Survey Steamer "Blake". Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harv. Coll., vol. X, No. :>. 



' Nattirg. Atisl. Fisch., Tli. 2, p. 150; fiom ua/.oog, long and olgct tail. The oldest generic name is Con/plianoides (GrNNEP.is, 

 1765), but was formed contrary to current rules and suggested for one of the Scandinavian species "until it please the great naturalist 

 LiNN.ECS to give the species its proper name." 



■»■ Deep 6Wi Fish., Chall. Exped., p. 122. 



'■ Chiefiy by the extension of the nasal bones, as REiXH.MinT has already remarked. 

 „ , , 74 



