BY C. W. DE VIS, M.A. Ill 



Descbiption. 



B,6; D,(?); A,o; C, o ; P, 11. ; V, i. 



The length of the head is more than one-eleventh of the 

 total length, the height of the body more than one-ninth, its 

 breadth about one-sixth of its height. The height of the head is 

 one-fourth less than its length. The second and third dorsal 

 rays (which alone are perfect) are two and a half times as long 

 as the head. The head is obtuse in front, the snout truncated, 

 the mouth deep and nearly vertical, entirely without teeth, and 

 moderately protractile. The long diameter of the eye is one- 

 fifth of the length of the head, its centre is in the upper half of 

 the head over the anterior two-fifths of its length. The trunk is 

 not traversed by any longitudinal ridge other than the tumid 

 mass of muscle over the vertebral column. The lateral line 

 commences over the eye, passes obliquely downwards behind the 

 head and disappears at a distance from the head about equal to 

 its length ; it is free from scales. The skin is covered on the 

 abdomen and over the interspinous bones of the back by flat 

 soft warts which are smaller between the interspinous bones, on 

 the middle of the sides by small round bony tubercles, but there 

 is no definite line of demarcation between the two forms of 

 dermal outgrowth. On the caudal region the bony tubercles are 

 not confined to the centre, but, in irregular hnes and bands, 

 occupy the whole of the side ; near and upon its lower edge they 

 acquire more distinctness and asperity, and towards the root of 

 the tail form a line of rather sharp points. The pectoral has 

 eleven rays and is about as long as the vertical diameter of the 

 mouth. The ventrals are broken off near their roots. The 

 elongate dorsal filaments were connected by membrane nearly to 

 their tips, as is attested by its remnants. The dorsal is rather 

 high, about two-fifths of the height of the body. The ground 

 colour is uniform silvery, relieved on the anterior region by 

 irregular transverse bars and blotches of black. 



Though there is hardly sufficient evidence, either in fact or 

 inference, to show that the Ribbon fishes inhabit the profoundest 

 depths of the ocean, we may reasonably conclude that their 

 habitats are far below the levels of coastal soundings and in this 

 sense they are entitled to be considered deep-sea fish. 



