STERNOPTYCHOIDS. 231 
Brownish, with seven transverse bands of brown, wider than the spaces 
by which they are separated, crossing the body and fins. 
Station, Latitude. Longitude. Depth. Temperature. Bottom. 
3385 7° 32! 36” N. 79° 16’ W. 286 fathoms 45.9° F. Green mud. 
PHYSOSTOMI. 
STERNOPTYCHOIDS. 
In 1887, the date of the “ Challenger” Report, the position of the Ster- 
noptychidz among the deep sea fishes was somewhat questionable. To-day 
it is yet undecided whether the fishes of this family are really taken at the 
great depths assigned to them. As they may enter the dredge anywhere 
on its way up or down, the actual depth of capture will have to be deter- 
mined in the future by means of appliances opening and closing at particu- 
lar intermediate depths between the bottom and the surface. The only 
present knowledge of conceded value relating to the habitat is based entirely 
on inferences. Firmness of structure is suggestive of a life near the surface 
and the large eyes and the luminous organs with that structure point toward 
a life in comparative darkness or to nocturnal habits, as was suggested by 
Giinther. To its uttermost limits sunlight reaches down in the sea a 
hundred and eighty fathoms, more or less, and it may be questioned 
whether the upper life-area of the ocean extends much farther down. At 
the bottom there is another area of life and light, the phosphorescent, in ver- 
tical extent probably much less than that at the surface, possibly limited to 
less than thirty fathoms. Where the sea is less than two hundred fathoms 
or thereabout it is probably lighted and full of life, other conditions being 
favorable, from top to bottom, but where the depth is greater the two areas 
of light are separated by a dark area the depth of which varies according to 
the total ocean depth at the particular locality. Though the dark area 
may be traversed in any direction, and though no doubt near its limits it 
serves as a hiding or lurking place for the preyed upon and for the preda- 
cious, it is rather doubtful whether otherwise it is permanently inhabited. 
All things considered it appears likely that many of the Sternoptychidx do 
not descend much beyond the reach of the sunlight, a conclusion independ- 
ently reached from study of the colors, which latter are those of pelagic ani- 
mals, or those of the surface, rather than those of great depths (see Plate J). 
