DOLOPICHTHYS ALLECTOR. 81 
CERATIID &. 
DoLoricHTHys gen. n. 
Degenerate pediculates adapted to a life in the mud and ooze at 
great depths in the ocean, having the fins more or less concealed in the 
skin and imperfectly suited to free progression off the bottom, and cap- 
turing the prey by means of an illicium, a modification of the anterior 
dorsal spine. 
Form short, compressed, tapering from the occiput both forward and 
backward. Head large, subquadrangular in trans-section; skull with spines; 
forehead a longitudinal trough, concave transversely; snout broad, blunt; 
mouth large, cleft anterior and lateral; teeth depressible, acicular, unequal, 
in a single series on intermaxillary and dentary ; no palatine teeth; tongue 
well developed; eyes lateral. Illicium elongate, two jointed. Three gills, 
none on the first arch; gill openings moderate, below the pectorals. Six 
branchiostegal rays. Skin naked, loose, soft. Fins small, more or less 
hidden in the skin; no ventrals. No caruncles. No pyloric appendages. 
No air bladder. 
Some of the features to be relied upon in separating this genus from its 
nearest now known allies are the presence of cephalic spines and of a two 
jointed illicium, and the absence of dermal armature and of caruncles. If 
the illicium is excepted, the rudimentary condition of the fins is such as 
would place the typical species lower in the scale than any of the others of 
its nearer allies with which we are at present acquainted. The habits are 
no doubt similar to those of the related species. The texture of the skin 
alone is sufficient to fix the type as an inhabitant of muddy areas, and the 
fins are better adapted for propulsion through soft mud and ooze than for 
swimming freely through the water. . 
Dolopichthys allector sp. n. 
Plates XH, XIV., XV. 
Brary or Del 63 AG. Ve Ose. 20; C. 9; Vert, 19° 
General shape short and compressed, in depth more than one-third of 
the entire length, in width less than two-thirds of the depth. Body taper- 
ing from the head; body cavity three-fifths of the total length ; caudal 
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