tr' 



The Aquarium 



^^ 



Volume II 



^. 



DECEMBER, 1913 



Number 7 



J 



On the Family Pterycombidae 



By R. W. SHUFELDT, C. M. Z. S., Etc. 



Last spring I published an illustrated 

 paper entitled "Professor Robert Col- 

 X^XXonPterycomhus brama, Fries, "^ which 

 was a translation of the original paper 

 by that eminent naturalist which ap- 

 peared in Norwegian many years pre- 

 viously.- As my former paper is quite 

 accessible, it will not 

 be necessary to repro- 

 duce it to any extent 

 here, that is, beyond 

 drawing upon the data 

 it contained, in order to 

 accomplish the purpose 

 of the present article. 



My translation of Col- 

 lett's work was consid- 

 erably augmented by 

 notes and comments of 

 my own, among other 

 things inviting especial 

 attention to a former 

 paper of mine on that 

 unique fish Gramuiicolc- 

 pis brachiiisciilus, Poey.'* 



Taking what appeared in these and 

 other papers, together with the numer- 



'Proc. Biol. Soc, Washington. Vol. XXV, pp. 39-50. 

 Mar. 19, 1912. Plates II, III. 



ous figures of skulls and skeletons of cer- 

 tain fishes I published in connection with 

 them — all of which save the skeleton of 

 Ptciycombus were drawn by myself from 

 the specimens— this last-named species 

 was, upon the whole, pretty thoroughly 

 compared, morphologically, with species 

 which were its supposed nearest afiines. 

 Ptcrycombus brama, the subject of this 



Ri.ght late 



^Collett, R. Om Pterycombus brama. Fries, Bergen's 

 Museum's Aarbog, 1896, No. VI, with two Plates. 

 The two Plates referred to have been photographical 

 ly copied by the present writer, and are reproduced 

 in this contribution. 



■^Shufeldt, R. W. "Further Studies of Gramwicolepis 

 brackiiisctiLits. Poev." Jour. Morph. Vol. II. No. 2, 

 Nov., 1888, pp. 271-296, Figs. 1-14. In this article 

 there is a translation by its author of Poey's account 

 of the fish named, the original having appeared in 

 Spanish (AnaL de la Soc. Esf'. de Hist. Nat., Tom. 

 II., 1873, by Felipe Poey. 



Plate I. 

 ral view of Ptcrycombus brama^ 



paper, is a deep-sea form, of which less 

 than ten specimens have ever fallen into 

 the hands of science. These were all 

 taken in Scandinavian waters, and are, 

 with one exception, preserved in Nor- 

 wegian museums. 



The external appearance of this fish 

 and the superficial characters of its skele- 

 ton are well shown in the two plates il- 

 lustrating the present article. Professor 



