138 Mr. A. Alcock on 



the 6 species classed as just possibly belonging to the nectic 

 fauna a curious and most suggestive geographical distribu- 

 tion. These are : — 



Chiasmodus niger, Johns., known from the West Indies 

 and Atlantic coasts of the United States ; from the mid- 

 Atlantic and Madeira ; and from the Bay of Bengal. 



Chaunax pictus, Lowe, known from the West Indies and 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States; from Madeira, Cape 

 Verd Islands, and neighbourhood ; from Japan and Fiji ; 

 and from the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Mana>. 



Dicrolene intronigra and Bathygadus longifilis, G. & B., 

 known from the West Indies and neighbouring coasts of 

 North America, from the Atlantic coast of North-western 

 Africa, and from the Malabar coast and Andamans. 



Diplacanthopoma brachysoma, Gthr., known only from off 

 the coast of Brazil (Pernambuco) and from the Andaman 

 Sea. 



2facrurus (Mystaconurus) cavernosus, G. & B., known only 

 from the Gulf of Mexico and from Ceylon and the Andaman 

 Sea. (Specimens from both regions compared.) 



Bathytroctes micro/epis, Gthr., known only from the Medi- 

 terranean gate of the Atlantic and from the Andaman Sea. 

 (Our specimen is in bad preservation, and its identification is 

 therefore doubtful.) 



Platytroctes o^ws, Gthr., known only from the mid- Atlantic 

 and from off the Malabar coast. 



Leptoderma macrops, Vaillant, known only from the 

 Atlantic coasts of North-western Africa and from the Bay of 

 Bengal. 



Uroconger vicinus, Vaillant, known only from the Atlantic 

 coasts of Noith- western Africa and from the Laccadives and 

 Bay of Bengal. 



iSynaphobranchus pinnatus, Gray, Gthr., known from the 

 Atlantic coasts of the United States and Brazil ; from the 

 Azores, Canaries, and Cape Verd Islands ; from the Philip- 

 pines and Japan ; and from off the Maldives and Cape 

 Comorin. (Compared with a ' Challenger ' duplicate.) 



Let us compare now the distribution of the 6 species above 

 referred to as possibly, but not probably, oceanic. These 

 are : — 



JlopJostethus mediterraneum, C. V., Gthr. : Atlantic coasts 

 of the United States, Madeira and neighbouring coasts and 

 islands of that part of the Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, 

 Japanese Seas, Malabar coast, and Bay of Bengal. 



Polymixia nobilis, Lowe : West Indies, Madeira and neigh- 



