2594 Bulletin //, United States National Museum, 



black; peritoneum dusky silvery. Coast of southern California. Many 

 specimens taken at Albatross Station 2980, in 603 fathoms. (A.?og 7 smooth; 

 scale.) (Gilbert.) 



Macrurus (Lionurus) liolepis, GILBERT, Proc. TT. S. Nat. Mus. 1890, 117, coast of southern 

 California, at Albatross Station 2980, in 603 fathoms. 



Remotely related to the Scombriform fishes, and perhaps derived from 

 the same ancestral stock as the Trichiwridce, is the singular 



Suborder T^NIOSOMI. 



(THE ElBBON-FlSHES.) 



This group is thus denned by Dr. Gill : 



" Scapular arch subnormal, post-temporal undivided and closely applied 

 to the back of the cranium, between the epiotic and pterotic, or upon the 

 parietal ; hypercoracoid perforate at or near the margin ; cranium with 

 the epiotics enlarged, encroaching backward and juxtaposed behind, inter- 

 vening between the exoccipitals and supraoccipital ; prootic and opisthotic 

 represented chiefly by the enlarged prootic; suborbital chain imperfect; 

 the copular bones separated by intervening cartilaginous elements; the 

 hypopharyngeals styliform and parallel with the branchial arches ; epi- 

 pharyngeals in full number (4 pairs), and mostly compressed ; the dorsal fin 

 composed of inarticulate rays or spines, separable into lateral halves, and 

 the ventrals (when present) subbrachial. A myodome may be present or 

 absent, none being developed in the Regalecidce, but 1 being distinct and 

 supplemented by a dichost in the Trachyteridcv." (Gill.) 



"The ribbon-fishes," says Gunther, "are true deep-sea fishes, met with 

 in all parts of the oceans, generally found when floating dead on the sur- 

 face or thrown ashore by the waves. Their body is like a band, specimens 

 of from 15 to 20 feet long being from 10 to 12 inches deep and about an 

 inch or two broad at their thickest part. The eye is large and lateral ; 

 the mouth small, armed with very feeble teeth; the head deep and short. 

 A high dorsal fin runs along the whole length of the back, and is supported 

 by extremely numerous rays, its foremost portion, on the head, is detached 

 from the rest of the fin, and composed of very elongate flexible spines. 

 The anal fin is absent. The caudal fin (if preserved, which is rarely the 

 case in adults) has an extra-axial position, being directed upward like a 

 fan. The ventrals are thoracic, either compressed of several rays or reduced 

 to a single long filament. The coloration is generally silvery, with rosy 

 fins. When these fishes reach the surface of the water the expansion of 

 the gases within their bodies has so loosened all the parts of their muscu- 

 lar and bony system that they can be lifted out of the water with diffi- 

 culty only, and nearly always portions of the body and fins are broken and 

 lost. The bones contain very little bony matter, and are very porous, thin, 

 and light. At what depth ribbon fishes live is not known; probably the 

 depths vary for different species ; but although none has yet been obtained 

 by means of the deep-sea dredge, they must be abundant at the bottom of 

 all oceans, as dead fishes or fragments of them are frequently obtained. 



