BERYCOID FISH FAMILY POLYMIXIIDAE LACHNER 



199 



specimens taken on Harvard-Havana Atlantis Expedition from 

 Stations 2950, 2961d, 2962, 2963c, 2980i3, 2981c, 2982, 2982a, 2983, 

 2987, 2987a, 3324, 3328, 3386, 3389, 3393-94, 3401, 3416, 3421-23, 

 3427-28, 3430-32, 3435-39, 3478; Jamaica (1 specimen), MCZ 

 33858; Virgin Islands (7 specimens), UiSNM 102151-157, Johnson- 

 Smithsonian Expedition; Gulf of Mexico (58 specimens), USNM 

 157752 and 157753 (8 specimens off Pensacola, Fla.), USNM 117089, 

 from stomach of Paralichthys oblongus at 168 fathoms, 117090, 

 117091, and 157751 (19 specimens from near Tortugas, Fla.), USNM 

 157749 and 157754 (25 specimens off Mississippi), USNM 157750 



Table 7.- — The longest gill raker of the first right arch expressed as a percentage of 

 the diameter of the orbit in Polymixia iiobilis and P. lowei. (Numbers in paren- 

 theses refer to P. iiobiiis.) 



(2 specimens off Corpus Christi, Tex.), CNHM 46388 (4 specimens 

 from various areas of Gulf of Mexico) ; Atlantic Coast (17 specimens), 

 AMNH 13569 (2 specimens, south-southeast of Cape Henry, Va., 

 cotypes of Polymixia nohilis virginica Nichols and Firth), MCZ 

 37702 (14 specimens, 40°03'N., 70°25'W.), and ^ICZ 37411 (1 speci- 

 men, 40°02'N., 70°24'W.). 



Description: This species is distinguished by the low number of 

 soft dorsal fin rays, 28.7: 26-32, and the high gill raker count, 18.8: 

 14-21. The dorsal spines range from V to VI. Otlier characters 

 showing some interspecific differences are: Soft anal rays 15: 13-17; 

 pectoral ra,ys 15.8: 15-17; lateral line pores 33.4: 31-36; gill rakers 

 long, longest raker 39 to 58 percent of diameter of orbit. A com- 

 Iparison of the length of head, barbel, pectoral fin, upper jaw, diameter 

 of orbit, and vertical scale rows with the other species is given in 

 tables 4 and 6. 



I Sexual dimorphism in coloration is markedly evident, the most 

 pronounced being the intense black on the outer portion of the longest 

 rays of the anal fin and lobes of the caudal fin in the males, pale or 

 slightly dusky in the females. Coloration of the males usually larger 

 than 120 mm. standard length: outer one-third to one-half of the 

 dorsal fin between 4th and 5th spine and the first 6 rays prominent 

 i black, some whitish below this spot or blotch, remainder of fin pale; 



