REPORT ON THE DEEP-SEA FISHES. 101 



armature ; operculum with a strong spine above. Distance of the vent from the root of 

 the pectoral more than the length of the head. 



Scales minute ; also the entire head, even the space between the nostrils, covered 

 with minute scales. Lateral line indistinct for the greater part of its course. 



The dorsal fin is, like the anal, enveloped in a thick, scaly skin. It commences 

 with short rays above the middle of the pectoral fin. The pectoral is rounded, broad, 

 and remarkably short, about half as long as the head. Ventrals inserted below the 

 angle of the prseoperculum. Each ventral filament is bifid, the inner part being the 

 longer. 



Brown ; darker behind, lighter in front. Fins blackish. Cavity of the mouth 

 grey, peritoneum black. 



Total length, 29i inches ; length of the head, 5f inches ; length of ventral filament, 

 3 inches; distance of the vent from the snout, 12|^ inches. This specimen is the largest 

 deep-sea fish obtained by the Expedition. 



Habitat. — South of Yedo, near Yokohama, Japan, Station 237 ; depth, 1875 

 fathoms. One specimen. 



Without causing more injury to the unique specimen than is consistent with its 

 preservation, the following points could be made out as regards its abdominal organs. 



The oesophagus is provided with about ten deep, parallel folds, some of which 

 coalesce where the oesophagus passes into the stomach, forming then only seven deep 

 and broad folds. The stomach is short, without ctecal prolongation behind, simply bent 

 towards the right at its posterior extremity, and passing immediately into the intestine. 

 A duodenal division cannot be distinguished. The walls of the stomach are very thick, 

 and strengthened by an outer stratum of longitudinal muscular fascicles. Externally 

 the pylorus is marked by a shght constriction, pyloric appendages being absent. 

 Internally the pyloric passage is indicated by a very low circular fold, on which the 

 longitudinal folds of the mucous membrane of the stomach terminate, and behind which 

 the villosities of the intestinal tube begin. I do not recollect any other fish in which 

 the mucous membrane of the intestine shows an equally developed villous texture. 

 The villosities are long, coarse, and densely packed, transversely lamellar or pointed, 

 becoming lower in the vicinity of the rectum. Rectum short, separated by a deep 

 circular valvular fold from the upper part of the intestine ; its mucous membrane has a 

 reticulated surface. The intestinal tract makes one and a half convolutions, and the 

 mesenteric blood-vessels are singularly wide and thick-walled. 



The liver is very large, occupying about one-third of the abdominal cavity, viz., the 

 whole of its left side, extending nearly to its hinder end. Its anterior transverse 

 portion bends over into a very short and narrow right lobe. The gall-bladder is large, 

 entirely separate from the liver, sending a narrow duct into the intestine a considerable 



