Mr. 0. T. Eegan on the Caristiidfe. G37 



The small disc, the broad opercles, the form of the caudal 

 fiu, &c. indicate that this was a more active swimmer thaa 

 the modern fishes of the order. 



Family 2. Echeneididse. 



Disc of 10 to 30 segme!itsJaroe,extendincf forward to the 

 snout, nearly as broad as the head. Vertebrae 26 to 30. 

 Dorsal fin as long as anal ; caudal truncate or emarginate. 



About 10 recent species * belonging to two genera, 

 Echeneis and Remora, the largest species, E. naucrates, 

 attaining a length of about 3 feet. Carnivorous fishes of 

 warm seas, attaching themselves by means of their adhesive 

 disc to large fisli or other marine animals, or to ships. 



LXXIX. — T/ie Caristiidffi, a Family of Berijcomorphous 

 Fishes. By C. Tate Regan, M.A. 



(Published by permission of the Trustee3 of the British Museum.) 



In 1905 (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, xviii. p. 219) Gill 

 and Smith described a remarkable fish obtained in the 

 market at Kagoshima as a new genus and. species, Caristius 

 jnponicus, the type of a new family of jugular acantho- 

 ptervgians ; the specimen was figured bv Smith and. Pope 

 (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xxxi. 1906, p. 49i; fig. 10). 



In 1911 (Res. Camp. Sci. ]\lonaco, xxxv. p. 101, pi. v. 

 fig. 5) Zugmayer described and figured Plahjberyx opalescens 

 as a new genus and species, known only from a single 

 specimen taken in deep water to the south of Cape St. 

 Vincent. 



A comparison of the descriptions and figures leaves no 

 doubt that these two fishes are closely related, probably 

 congeneric and perhaps not specifically distinct. The 

 number of fin-rays is nf)t quite the same, 34 dorsal and 

 21 anal in the Japanese specimen, 31 dorsal and 18 anal in 

 the Atlantic one. As the former was in poor condition, 

 not much importance can be attached to the supposed 

 absence of the lateral line, which is well developed in the 

 latter. 



Zugmayer places liis fish in the Berycidse [s. I.) on account 



* GUnther, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) v. 1860, p. 389, or Cat. Fish. 

 ii. p. 376. 



Ann. & Mag. X. Hist. Ser. 8. Vol. x. 43 



