390 Mr. A. Alcock on the BathjUal Fishes 



culate. A broad bridge of loose sldn connects the gill-cover 

 with the base of the pectoral fin. Integument loose, thin but 

 tough, covered along the flanks of the body only with minute, 

 membranous, irregular, non-imbricating scales. Lateral line, 

 if present, only on the anterior part of the trunk. Vertical 

 fins confluent with the caudal, which is pointed and half as 

 long as the head ; the dorsal begins behind the vertical 

 through the base of the pectoral, the anal a head-length 

 and a quarter behind the same level. Pectoral with a thick, 

 fleshy, free base, constituting one third the entire extent of 

 the fin. Ventrals simple filaments arising in the vertical 

 from the posterior border of the preoperculum. 



Colours in life : — " Head dark chocolate ; body light 

 chocolate, with minute white spots along its sides " {Dr. 

 Giles). 



Abdominal cavity large ; stomach siphonal ; no pyloric 

 cseca. An air-bladder. 



Two specimens, both females with gravid ovaries, one 3f 

 inches, the other 4 inches long. 



Hab. Bay of Bengal, lat. 20° 17' 30'' N., long. 88° 50' E., 

 193 fathoms. 



Glyptophidium, gen. nov. 



Allied to Bathyonus. 



Head large, body compressed, with a long tapering tail. 

 Scales deciduous and very thin. Bones of head soft and 

 cavernous, with prominent outstanding crests. Operculum 

 small, with one feeble spine. Snout obtuse. Jaws equal in 

 front. Mouth wide. Villiform teeth in narrow bands in the 

 jaws, palatines, and vomer. No barbel. Eyes large. Caudal 

 free. Ventrals simple filaments. Gills four, with short 

 laminse. Branchiostegals eight. Pseudobranchiaj. Pyloric 

 appendages small. 



Glyptophidium argenteum, sp. nov. 



B. 8. D. 98. A. 75. C. circ. 15. P. 23. V. 1. 



Head and body compressed, tail long and tapering, witli a 

 long, narrow, free caudal. Length of head nearly 4^, maxi- 

 mum body-height b\ in the total (caudal included). In spirit 

 nine frill-like, membranous, longitudinal crests stand out on 

 the head, namely an interrupted median one from snout to 

 occiput, and on each side a supraorbital, a temporal, an infra- 

 orbital, and a submandibular. Snout as long as the eye, or 

 4^^ in the head, broad, rounded, and not overlapping the equal 



