278 Mr. C. T. Regan on the 



fins are confluent with the reduced caudal, but tlie latter may 

 be well-developed and tree {Dinematicht/n/s) or may be 

 absent. "J'he gill-openings are wide, with the gill-membranes 

 separate and free from the isthmus (except in Dennatopsis). 

 Tiie moutli is usually protractile. 



This family includes the blind cave-fishes of Cuba {Stygi- 

 cola and Lucifuga?) as well as a number of marine forms, some 

 of those inhabiting the depths of the sea being extraordinarily 

 aberrant (^Tauredophidium, Aphyonus, Typklonus, Acan- 

 thonus, &c.). Many have been described by Giin'ther 

 (' CliaUenger ' Deep-sea Fishes), and Goode and Bean 

 (' Oceanic Ichthyology ') give a useful synopsis of the genera. 



I have examined the skeleton of Brotula jai/akan, and 1 

 have already figured the skull (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 

 xi. 1903, p. 461). Tiie parietals are separated by the supra- 

 occipital, the latter forms with the e&occipitals a strong 

 median crest which does not project above the level of the 

 upper surface of the skull, the opisthotic is not enlarged, the 

 basioccipital and pro-otic form a rather prominent auditory 

 bulla. 



The structure of the jaws, the hyoTspalarine and opercular 

 bones (tig. 2, A), and the pectoral arch (fig. 3, 4) is shown 

 by the figures ; the lower fork of the post-temporal is directly 

 attached to the opisthotic, and the hypercoracoid and hypo- 

 coracoid are separated by cartilage. 



In Brotula jaijakari there are 55 vertebrae (15 + 40) ; the 

 first two vertebrae are short and bear sessile epipleurals; the 

 third, fourth, and fifth bear sessile ribs, the first two pairs 

 being expanded j from the sixth to the fifteenth the ribs are 

 borne by strong transverse parapophyses. 



Emery has figured the suspensorium of Pteridium atrum *, 

 but I find that his figure is incorrect and that the pterygoid, 

 mesopterygoid, and metapterygoid are exactly as in Brotula ; 

 fie, has overlooked the suture between pterygoid and nieso- 

 pterygoid, and has mistaken the anterior part of the meta- 

 pterygoid for the latter bone. 



Family 2. Ophidiidse. 



Differ from the preceding externally in the anterior 

 position of the pelvic fins, inserted between the rami of the 

 lower jaw ; behind them the gill-membranes are attached to 

 the isthmus. I have examined the skeleton of Genypterus 

 fjlacodes, which differs from that of Brotula especially in the 



* Fauna u. Flora d. Golf. v. Neapel, ii. (1880j. 



