Odd Fish 169 



if sufficiently defunct, but a large num- 

 ber are brilliantly illuminated during life. 

 The majority of these are fishes living in 

 very deep water. Their " photophores " 

 or light organs take an infinity of shapes, 

 some being arranged in rows along the 

 sides of the body, whilst others are 

 carried on the ends of specially adapted 

 filaments and fin rays. In certain forms 

 the whole of the undersurface may be an 

 unbroken sheet of bluish light, illumin- 

 ating the ocean floor for some distance 

 round, the lights serving the dual purpose 

 of attracting the prey and enabling their 

 owner to see his way in the inky blackness 

 of the abyss. 



In a deep sea fish (Gigantura) the eyes 

 are telescopic, whilst each jaw is fur- 

 nished with a pair of formidable canine 

 teeth directed forwards. In the stomach 

 of an 80 mm. long specimen recently 

 examined by Mr. Tate Regan at the 

 Natural History Museum, was found 



