270 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



In his monograph of the marine fishes of South Africa (1925, A?in. S. Afric. Miis. 

 XXI, p. 122), Barnard mentions a specimen oi Bathytroctes in the British Museum collec- 

 tion from Cape Point, registered as B. homopterus, Vaillant, and presumably collected 

 by the S.S. ' Pieter Faure '. I have examined this fish, which is not a Bathytroctes but an 

 Alepocepholus . It appears to belong to a species new to science, and may, therefore, be 

 described here. 



Alepocephalus barnardi, n.sp. 



Bathytroctes rostratus {non Giinther), Barnard, 1925, Ann. S. Afric. Mus. xxi, p. 122. 



Depth of body 6 in the length, length of head 3. Snout about as long as eye, diameter 

 of which is 3I in length of head; interorbital width 5|. Maxillary extending nearly to 

 below middle of eye ; lower jaw included. About 16 gill-rakers on lower part of anterior 

 arch. 50 ( ?) scales in a longitudinal series. Dorsal 18. Anal 18 ; origin below fifth dorsal 

 ray, more than twice as distant from end of snout as from base of caudal. Caudal 

 peduncle nearly 3 times as long as deep. 



Described from a single specimen, 200 mm. in length. 



Hab. Off Cape Point, South Africa; 700 fms. 



This species appears to be close to A. blanfordi, Alcock, the type of which has been 

 lent to me for examination by the Indian Museum. It differs in having a more slender 

 body, rather longer snout, wider interorbital region, and more slender caudal peduncle. 

 It may be distinguished from A. prodtictus, Goode and Bean, by the narrower body, 

 longer snout and larger orbit, and longer caudal peduncle; and from A. umbriceps, 

 Jordan and Thompson, by the longer snout and larger eye. 



Xenodermichthys socialis, Vaillant. 



Vaillant, 1888, Exped. Set. ' Travailleur' et ' Talisman', Poissons, p. 162, pi. xiii, fig. i ; Collett, 

 1896, Res. Camp. Sci. Monaco, x, p. 138; Koehler, 1896, Ann. Univ. Lyon, ni, p. 520, pi. xxvii, 

 fig. II ; Holt and Byrne, 1908, Fisheries, Ireland, Sci. Invest. 1906, v, p. 48, pi. v, fig. 2; Roule, 

 1915, Btdl. Mus. Paris, No. 2, p. 42; 1919, Res. Camp. Sci. Monaco, lit, p. 10, pi. i, fig. 5; 

 Barnard, 1925, Ann. S. Afric. Mus. xxi, p. 123. 



Aleposomus socialis, Goode and Bean, 1895, Ocean. Ichth. p. 48, fig. 58. 



Aleposomus cyaneus, Zugmayer, 1914, Bud. Inst. Ocean. Monaco, 288, p. i. 



St. 276. 5. viii. 27. 5° 54' 00" S, 11° 19' 00" E. Young-fish trawl, i5o(-o)m. : i specimen, 

 100 mm. 



X. copei, Gill, from the Western Atlantic, is perhaps identical with this species, but 

 appears to have a somewhat larger head and a larger eye. X. nodulosus, Giinther, from 

 Japan, is easily distinguished by the longer and slenderer body, shorter head, smaller 

 eye, and by the gill-opening only extending to a little above the base of the 

 pectoral. 



Rouleina {Aleposomus, Roule nee Gill) is close to Xenodermichthys , but differs in the 

 large mouth with stronger teeth, which are developed on the maxillary as well as on the 



