242 



OSTEOLOGY OF SIMENCHELYID^ GILL. 



The family is well marked by the peculiar ftfrm of the head and the 

 inferior longitudinal branchial fissures, as well as by the massiveness of 

 the jaws and branchiostegals. Only one genus is known, viz : 



SiMENCHELYS Gill, with Goode tf- Bean, Bull. Essex lust., v. 11, p. 27, 1880 — Conchoff- 

 naihus Collett, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1889, p. 122. 

 Type S. parasiticus Gill. 



The question naturally arises whether the Simenchelys parasiticus and 

 Gonchognathus Grimaldii are distinct. So far as can be judged from the 

 description of Dr. Collett, this question must be answered in the nega- 

 tive. The measurements of two specimens of nearly the same size cor- 

 respond closely enough for specific purposes except as to height. That 

 measurement for the Concliognatlius Grhnaldii has evidently been ob- 

 tained from a specimen with a very full belly* and not at the pectoral 

 or anal region. The measurements from an American specimen are 

 subjoined for comparison with measurements of an Azorean one given 

 by Dr. Collett. 



Measwsfnenta. 



*Le corps est comprim^; le museau est tioiiqu6 ; lo veutre uu peu pendant, trhs 

 dilatable.— Collett, op. cit., p. 124. 



