COD-FISHES. 



545 



Two dorsal fins, the anterior of which is very short, rudimentary. 

 One anal fin. Ventrals composed of six rays. Card-like teeth in 

 the jaws and on the vomer. 



The " Trifurcated Hake," R. trifurcus, not uncommon 

 on the coasts of Northern Europe. 



Bregmaceros. — Body fusiform, compressed posteriorly, 

 covered with cycloid scales of moderate size. Two dorsal fins ; 

 the anterior reduced to a single long ray on the occiput ; the 

 ■ second and the anal much depressed in the middle ; ventrals 

 very long, composed of five rays. Teeth small. 



A dwarf Gadoid, the only one found at the surface between 



Fig. 249. — Bregmaceros macclellandii. 



the Tropics. B. macclellandii scarcely exceeds three inches in 

 length, is not uncommon in the Indian Ocean, and has found 

 its way to New Zealand ; specimens have been picked up in 

 mid-ocean. 



MUR./ENOLEPIS. — Body covered with lanceolate epidermoid 

 productions, intersecting each other at right angles like those of 

 a Freshwater-eel. Vertical fins confluent, no caudal being dis- 

 cernible ; an anterior dorsal fin is represented by a single fila- 

 mentous ray ; ventral fins narrow, composed of several rays. A 



2n 



