PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 469 
LOPHITD.. 
2. Lophius piscatorius, Linn. 
A specimen, No. 26170, 26™ long, containing immature ova, was taken 
at station 894, at a depth of 365 fathoms; also a large specimen with 
- immature ova, No. 26098, from station 876, 120 fathoms; and a smalier 
one, perhaps two years old, No. 26070, from station 878, 1424 fathoms. 
3. Mancalias uranoscopus (Murray) Gill. 
Ceratias uranoscopus, MURRAY, in Wyville Thompson, The Atlantic, 1878, ii, 
p. 67, fig. 20 (Am. ed.). 
Mancalias uranoscopus, GILL, Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus. i, 1878 (Oct. 17), p. 22 
wee 
A single specimen, No. 26159, 185"" long, was taken October 2 at sta- 
tion No, 895, at a depth of 372 fathoms. It is of much interest, only one 
specimen having hitherto been found. This was dredged July 23, 1873, 
by H. M.S. Challenger, southeast of Madeira (lat. 22° 18/ N., long. 22° 
2/ W.), at a depth of 2,300 fathoms (temperature 1° 65/ C.).. Mr. Mur- 
ray’s description, which is sufficiently accurate except that our speci- 
men has four instead of three rays in the second dorsal, runs as follows: 
The specimen is 90™" in length from the snout to the end of the tail, 
compressed laterally, and of a uniform black color. The anterior spine 
of the first dorsal fin is produced into a long filament, ending in a pear- 
shaped bulb, terminating in a very distinct, semi-transparent, whitish 
spot. This spine has its origin on the posterior portion of the head, and 
when laid back it reaches nearly to the tip of the tail. The second part 
of the first dorsal is placed far back on the body, and consists of two 
short, fleshy tubercles, which lie in a depression in front of the second 
dorsal fin. The second dorsal has three rays; the anal is opposite the 
second dorsal and has four rays; the caudal has eight rays, the four 
central rays being much larger than the others, and bifid. The pectorals 
are small and have ten very delicate rays. The gill-opening is a slit 
situated below the pectoral fin. The upper jaw is formed by the inter- 
maxillaries, and is armed, together with the lower jaw, with a series of 
teeth of moderate size, which can be depressed inward as in Lophius. 
The skin is thickly covered with minute, embedded, conical spines. ‘The 
eyes are very small and are placed high up on the middle of the head. 
The presence of a fish of this group at so great a depth is of special in- 
terest. From its structure, and from the analogy of its nearest allies, 
there seems to be no reasonable doubt that it lives on the bottom. It is 
the habit of many of the family to lie hidden in the mud, with the long 
dorsal filament and its terminal soft expansion exposed. It has been 
imagined that the expansion is used as a bait to allure its prey, but it 
seems more likely that it is a sense-organ intended to give notice of their 
approach. 
