151 



Gill-cleft extremely wide and oblique, its superior limit being above the 

 middle of the eye ; gill-cover reduced apparently to a narrow straight preoper- 

 culum, very obliquely articulated, furnished with a narrow membranous fringe ; 

 four branchial arches, extremely weak and flexible, bearing very narrow laminae ; 

 gill-rakers rudimentary. 



Body scaleless. Skin thick, soft, velvety, and uniformly covered with 

 adherent tenacious mucus ; apparently no lateral line. Besides the large lumin- 

 ous glands already described, there are two regular rows of minute luminous 

 organs along the ventral half of the body on each side : the upper, numbering 

 about fifty, extending from the gill-opening to the base of the caudal ; the lower, 

 numbering about forty, skirting the ventral profile from the isthmus to the fifth 

 anal ray ; a few similar luminous organs on the crown of the head. 



The dorsal fin begins slightly in advance of the posterior fifth of the body, 

 and is equal and opposite to the anal. The longest (central) anal rays are a little 

 longer than the corresponding dorsal rays, and are equal to the depth of the tail 

 at their point of origin. The caudal is deeply forked, with the lower lobe the 



broader and longer and about ^^ of the total length. 



Pectorals absent. The ventrals arise in the anterior half of the body, their 

 point of origin being 1- times as far from the vent as from the margin of the 

 gill-cleft ; the two outer rays are thickened, coherent throughout, and prolonged, 

 their length being two-fifths of the total length including the caudal ; tlie inner 

 rays are short, weak, and inconspicuous. 



Stomach siphonal, its cul-de-sac extending halfway along the abdominal 

 cavity ; intestine straight, opening at the origin of the anal fin. No pyloric caeca. 



Colours intense black : the large postocular luminous organs very conspi- 

 cuous, one being naked and rose pink in colour, the other being silvery and 

 almost entirely covered by a fold of black skin. The small luminous organs 

 were not visible until after immersion in spirit. 



The largest specimen is just under .5 inches long. 



Bay of Bengal, off Ganjam coast, 1310 fathoms, and off the Andamans, OUO 

 fathoms. 



Regd. Nos. 12835, ^-p. 



Family ScopclUlce. 



In the Fauna of Britwh India four genera and six species are recorded. 

 "We now know of six more genera and thirteen more species, all belonging to the 

 deep sea. 



