1-18 '-TERHA NOVA" EXPKl >1TI« iX. 



ACERATIIDAK. 



Ihil>l,'i'liriiiir ill, 'I/is. Braii.T (I'l. X. fi-'. •_'). 



A speciincii of 10 mill, is vci'V similar in niiiliiir to rlie one figurcil liy Brauer 

 ( N'.ililivia Tidkec Fi.schf. |)1. X\'I. tig. 10) ; but this outline is that of tlie loose skin in 

 wliich the tish is eiiclosc(l. ami iliai of tlie lioily of the fish is (juite (liferent. Tlie dorsal 

 ami anal ra\s arc Iciiiu. lnii niil\ their tips project, ami a rudiment of the illicium 

 i.s T)resent. Imi is hiiMiii umliT tlir skin. 



Statidii l-_'7. ( tir Thivc Kiiius Islands. Surlari'. .Vn^iist •_'.")! h. l'.)ll. 



III. NOTES AND CONCLUSIONS. 



I. i"Kd,.\(il(' i>.\TJVAK TX RKL.VTION TO TIIK 1 )1STUIBUT10N OF Sl'EClES. 



The laiNal. pnst-larval. and xounii Hslies of the " Terra Xova " collection were all 

 taken at (ir near the surface. The majority of tho.sc captured far from land, whether 

 in the Antarctic- iNctc/i'j'is coatsii). Snhantarctic { Mi/<i,>jiliuiii (iiifufcticuiii), South 

 Temperate oi' Tropical Zones (cf ]». 1:!4) helong to oceanic species, either pelagic or 

 hatliypelagic. Hn the other hand, most of those taken near the coast are young 

 stage,s of coast fishes wliitdi, when ailult, may cither swim neai- the surface (e.g., 

 ('In|ieidae) or live at the hottoiu (e.g., Hetero.somata). Tliis is in agreement with the 

 fai't that the same species of coast iislies rarel\' inhahits areas separated liy a wide 

 expanse of sea : for example, the majority of the Brazilian species are not found on 

 tlie West African coast. It may lie inferred that the distrilmtion of a henthic species 

 along a coast mav he helped liy a pelagic lar\al ]ihase, lait that unless this he 

 prolonged it will not serve to establish tlie species in places .separated from its 

 original habitat liy a wide sea. 



Hiitlius i)r,-//iifus (p. 147), one of the Flat-fishes, is a good example of a bcnthic 

 fish with a prolonged pelagic larval phase. Tlie "Terra Nova ' example, more than 

 an ini-h long, is still transparent and symmetrical ; it was taken in the Atlantic 

 in a S., 27° l.'i' W. . ijiiite P,00 miles from the American coast. Jordan and Evermann 

 give the habitat of this species as from "Long Island td Hid .laiieiro, on sandy 

 slnu'es": but a sjiecimcn in the ihitish Museum collei-tion proves that it also occurs 

 at Ascension. ali<iut 1.000 miles from Brazil. There can be little duubt that it has 

 reached this island owing to the long duration of its life as a pehigic larva. 



The Eels, Apodes (p. 140, PI. VII, figs, .t-7) are lienthic fishes with pelagic larvae 

 that attain a consideralile size and age and may migrate for long distances ; but the 

 majority of the Atlantic species of this group are not c(iiiimiin L<i the eastern and 

 western coasts. 



I'here is considerable c\'ideiice that smiie coast fislies with a wide geogra]thical 



