396 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



The neurocranium of Lophius seems to me to be more specialized than that of Anten- 

 narius in the following features: 



(1) it is much widened and flattened, in connection with the increase in the transverse 

 diameter of the mouth; 



(2) while the eyes retain their position immediately in front of the hyomandibular, 



■P'^Y 



Halieutichthys aculeatus 



Fig. 268. Halieutichthys. Young specimen stained by Miss Gloria HoUister for Dr. William Beebe. 



the preorbital portion of the neurocranium has been lengthened and widened into a shallow 

 trough, floored chiefly by the anterior wings of the f rentals, which are secondarily widened; 

 (3) perhaps in consequence of the flattening of the head the parasphenoid has estab- 

 lished a broad contact with the frontals in front of the orbits, which braces the enlarged 

 interorbital bridge; 



