262 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



Saccopharynx pelecanoides. 



EurypJiarynx pelecanoides, Vaillant, Comptes rendus, 1882, vol. xcv. p. 1226.^ 



Both jaws possess merely feeble dental granulations, but the lower jaw is armed in 

 front with a pair of slender curved teeth (2 mm. long). The length of the jaws is 

 about one-half of that of the body. The origin of the dorsal fin is nearer to the end 

 of the snout than to the vent ; neither the dorsal nor the anal fin reach the end of the 

 tail (which terminates in a small skinny lobe). Gill-opening a very small round 

 opening. No bluish-white line along the back. 



Known from a specimen, 18^ inches long, of which the body takes about 6 inches ; 

 it was captured during the cruise of the French surveying vessel " Travailleur," on 

 the coast of Morocco, at a depth of 2300 meters. The tail has much the appearance 

 of having been mutilated during the life of the fish.^ 



Saccopharynx hairdii. 



Saccopharynx flagellum, Goode and Bean, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. x., 1883, p. 223; Proc. 



U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. vii., 1885, p. 65. 

 Gastrostomus bainlii, Gill and Ryder, Proc. U.S. Nat. JIus., vol. vii., 1885, p. 271. 



Jaws with minute acute conical teeth, depressed inwards in a very narrow band, 

 without fangs at the extremity of the lower jaw. The length of the jaws is more than 

 one-half of that of the body (distance of the snout from the anal fin). The origin of 

 the dorsal fin is nearer to the end of the snout than to the origin of the anal ; neither 

 the dorsal nor the anal fin reach the end of the tail. Gill-openings narrow. No 

 bluish -white line along the back. 



This form is based on four specimens obtained by the North American surveying 

 vessels between lat. 35° and 40° N., and long. 65° and 74° W., at depths of 389, 898, 

 1309, and 1467 fathoms. One of these specimens is 18^ inches long, of which the 

 body apparently takes 6^ inches. It is uncertain whether these specimens are 

 specifically distinct from Saccopharynx pelecanoides ; indeed, Mr. Jordan,^ in referring 

 to the fishes of this genus says with very good reason " the species are little known 

 and possibly all forms of a single one." 



1 The typical specimen has been figured in a woodcut in " La Nature,^' 1883. 



2 Whilst this sheet is passing through the press, we learn from Perrier, Les Explorations Sous- Marines, Paris, 

 188G, 8™, p. 56, that a second specimen was discovered by the naturalists of the " Talisman " off Mogador. No mention 

 is made of any differences which may exist between the two specimens. 



^ Catalogue of the Fishes known to inhabit the Waters of North America, 1885, p. 57. 



