578 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



though otherwise that group is nearly like the Himantolojjhines. 

 Some of the species become quite large, reaching a length of at least 

 28 inches, and the first Ilimantolophus found was nearly 2 feet long ; 

 most of them, however, are rather small fishes, or at least only small 

 specimens have been secured. 



The Ceratiines are the most numerous as well as typical of the 

 family. All have a smooth or prickly skin (but no tubercles), a 

 moderately large, vertical mouth, 2i pairs of gills, and a cephalic 

 spine with a terminal bulblike apparatus, but this apparatus and the 

 dorsal spines are manifest under various guises which mark distinct 

 genera. 



The anterior dorsal spine, or illicium, and its support are singu- 

 larly modified. The support is homologous with the interspinal bone 



Fig. 12. — A Ceratiino (Cemtias holhoUi). After Kroyer and Galmard. 



intervening between the ray and the neural spine of an ordinary fish, 

 and this may be horizontal and concealed, as in Ceratias, partly 

 exposed, as in Cryptopsaras. In all the Ceratiines, as well as in 

 most others of the family, the spine has a bulbous extremity, which is 

 generally grayish at its distal end and has a filiform appendage. The 

 light area is supposed to be phosphorescent, and thus to attract fishes 

 in the depths sufficiently near to be seized. 



In Geratias the frontal spine arises above the eyes and is jointed 

 on to a concealed horizontal interspinal bone ; there is a second dorsal 

 spine some distance in front of the dorsal fin, and there are no 

 caruncles. The only known species, Geratias holboUi, is the longest, 

 and by far the largest, known of the group. It has been found off 

 Greenland and Nova Scotia and attains a length of about ^ feet. 



In Gryptopsaras the frontal spine is rodlike and supported by a 

 partly exserted interspinal bone. The second dorsal spine is repre- 



