595 



within llic li()(l\' of iitlicr .•iiiiinais. l-^cn true surt'aci'- 

 tislics uv sJKii'c-fisiK's mIso (iccuv within this t';iHiii\-. In 

 the iiirat niaj(irit\- of cases wc ina\- I'cK' n|i(in tht' 

 t'aniil\-chai'actcr tiiat the raii(hil lin is not sojiafatcd 

 IVoin the otlicv \ei'ti<'al tins; hut it \er\' ol'teii aiipears, 

 at least h\' a closef affanu'cnient of the fa\s, thai hei'e 

 ■we ha\c the laidiinent of a distinet eaildal fin, and in 

 some exotie species tile caudal fin is fr<>e or united to 

 the diirsal and anal tins niereh' !n' a sluji't lin-nieni- 

 hrain'. Ill most cases the ventral tins are reduced, 

 filamentons, and fcinoNcd to a <>'i'eator or less distance 

 ill a forward direction, e\eii in front of the shoulder- 

 girdle and helow the tongue, as if tlu^y were liarl)els. 

 In other cases these fins are wanting. Some of these 

 fishes in form eonie very near the JSIacruri, others 

 remind us of the FJiijcis-type, nnd others again resemble 

 the r>leiiiiomori)hs and (rohiomortihs. 



Ill general these lishes are small and worthless; 

 but Geiiyptents aipensis, which sometimes attains a 

 length of a metre, bears among the inhabitants of Cape 

 Colony the signilicant name of h'oiiin// can Kliprisrheii, 

 and lirohda miiUih(irli<it(t is a favourite and exi)ensiv(! 

 dish in Japan. 



About 75 species are at present known with 

 more or less certainty and distributed anujiig 33 

 genera. 



The family as no^v defined and ranged most 

 nearly corresponds to Mllleu's" family OpliUlini, with 

 the addition (made by <iL'NTnEii'') of the CrviEiUAN 

 Gadoid genus Ihotida and its relatives (tlu; sub- 

 famil)' BrotuUnce), of Ricmardson's genus Machcenum 

 (subsequently altered for reasons of priority to C'on- 

 groffadns), and of RuPrELS Haliophis (the subfamily 

 Cou(ir(i(i(t(Vuuf). 



SrOFAMII Y OPHIDIINJE. 



FiJ((ii)€ui<iiis rciitnil fi'iis inserted in front of the fihoidder-fjirdle. 



The majority of the members <if tliis subfamih' 

 are shore-tishes; but the oidy one that can Ije of any 

 faunistic interest to us, is a deep-sea tish. 



'i'lie genus Ojdiiiliiini. Avln<'h has given its name 

 to the famil\- as well as to the subfamily, is fairly 

 common in the Mediterranean and on the coast of 

 Brazil. In the former locality it has long been known: 

 even Pi.ixy probably referred to it when he mentioned 

 a tish of this name that was employed in the medicine 

 of the ancients, while in Belox's time' the tish was 

 much esteemed by the prelates of Rome as an excellent 

 dish. In more recent times the senus has gained cc- 



lel)rit^•, through ]\Il ller's'' and Costa's' researches, for 

 the singular manner in which the air-bladder is united 

 in front to the spinal column, in the nearest resem- 

 blance to the corresponding strnctui-e in Fierasfer. 

 MuELER imagined that within this genus he could make 

 use of anatomical differences as specific distinctions be- 

 tween forms in which no external differences could be 

 detected; but (,'osta showed that a great proportion of 

 the former appear as differences dependent on age and 

 sex. One species has a range extending from the Medi- 

 teri'anean out into the Atlantic and up to England, but 

 has not been found in Seandinavian waters. 



" Abli. K. Akad. Wiss. Berl. 1844, pp. 177 ami 202. Bonaparte liail already eatablislied a family Opiiidiiila' m 18;il, but lie ranged 

 it among the Apodes and included in it the Sand-Eel.s. 

 '' Cat. Brit. Mus., Fisli., vol. IV, p. .-570. 

 •" La nature et diversite des poissoii.t. Paris 155.o, p. 12(5. 

 •' .\bh. K. Akad. Wiss. Berl. 1843, p. 1,50. 

 •■ Fauna dri regno di Xapoli, Pesci, part. 1. Opliiili'ini. tnv. XX. ter. August, 1843. 



