LYCODIN.E. 



93 



Distribution. A single specimen (J) was taken by the Ingolf Expedition of 1895 (St. 27) in 

 Davis Straits off tlie coast between the colonies Godthaab and Sukkertoppen (64" 54' N.Iv. 55° 10' W.L.), 

 where the depth was 393 fathoms and bottom-temperature -^ 3''S C. 



Relation to allied species. Of these, L.miirceiia Coll. is the one which is most remote from 

 the present species. L. ntiircejta is namely a still more elongated form, the height over the anus being 

 4,1 — 5"'o of the total length, and it has a more compressed tail; further, its underjaw reaches almost 

 to the tip of the upper, its dorsal fin begins further forward (the distance from the snout is ^= 17,6—18,2",, 

 of the total length), and it has fewer rays in the pectorals, namely 13 — 15. 



L. sarsii Coll. is distinctly nearer to the present species, but its head is somewhat longer (the 

 length in the two females at my disposal being 13,7 — 14,2 °o of the total length), and flatter, and the 

 lower jaw reaches almost as far forward as the upper (see Fig. 21 & 22 in text). In addition, it has 

 fewer rays in the pectorals, nameh" 15 — 16. 



On the other hand, there might be some doubt, whether the present species is not identical 

 with the L. paxilliis Goode & Bean") taken on the east coast of North America in deep water (263 

 — 904 fathoms). As I am not m\self acquainted with L. paxillns, I shall only indicate that this 

 species appears to be less elongated, the height going 16 times in the total length (whereas in L. 

 ingolfiaims it is almost 20 times); further, L. paxillus seems to have only 16 rays in the pectorals, 118 

 in the dorsal and no in the anal fin; lastly, the ateral line is given as being single (mediolateral). 



Lycodonus (ioode &: Bean. 

 Lycodonus Goode 8: Bean, I^ull. Mus. Comp. Zool., X, No. 5, 1883, p. 208 Imirabilis). 



The body ver\- elongated ( angu illif or m), the height over the anus going ca. 

 21 — 30 times in the length. Teeth on the intermaxillary, mandible, vomer and 

 palatines. Lower jaw without barbules. Scales small. Lateral line mediolateral or 

 both mediolateral and ventral. Along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins a row of 

 small bony plates (la teral ou t-gro wth s of the upper ends of the inter spinous ray s), on 

 which the rays are superimposed. Branchiostegal rays 5. 



This genus, which in relation to the other auguilliform Lycodince is specially- characterized by 

 the structure of the interspinous bones and by onh' having 5 branchiostegal rays, consists now of 3 

 species from deep water: Lycodonus miyabilis (yoode & Bean, off the east coast of the United States 

 (35" 45' 23" — 41" 53' N.L. 65° 21' 50" — 74° 34' 45" W.L.), 721 — 1309 fathoms; L. ophidium Jensen, North 

 Atlantic Ocean S. from Iceland, 1089 fathoms; L. flagellicauda Jensen, the polar depths from vSpitz- 

 bergen down towards Iceland and the Faeroes, 459 — 1003 fathoms. 



The .American .siDccies lacks fin-rays on the anterior (9— 11) plates on the back, whereas all 

 the plates bear fin-rays in the European species. The two last species can be distinguished from one 

 another by the following characters: 



') Lycodes paxillus Goode & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1879, p. 44. L. paxilloides Gooile & Beau, Bull. Mus. Couip. 

 Zool., X, 1883, p. 207. Lycenchelys paxillus Goode & Bean, Oceanic Ichthyology,-, 1895, p. 311, Fig. 279 & 2S2; Jordan & Kver- 

 niann. Fishes of North America, III, 1898, p. 2471. 



