Jordan and Ever mann. Fishes of North America. 843 



Plectromm o-twwtcejw, BEAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1885, 73, Gulf Stream. (Type, Nos. 33378, 

 33509, and 34835. Coll. Albatross); about latitude 40; not Scopelus crassiceps, G(JNTHER, 

 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1878, 185, also a Plectromm. 



nM/jy<//<; : N li>-<itiii, <;f vniKK, Deep-sea Fishes, Challenger Report, xxn, 29, 1887; after BEAN. 



Plectromus heani, GooDE & BEAN, Oceanic Ichthyology, 179, 1895. 



1225. PLECTROMUS CRASSICEPS, GUnther. 



Head 3; depth 4. D. Ill, 12; A. I, 9; P. 14; V. I, 7; scales 28. Least 

 depth of tail * of its free portion. Head very thick, with short snout. 

 Eyes small, { length of head, and | of that of snout ; posterior margin of 

 preoperculum descending obliquely backward; lower jaw slightly promi- 

 nent ; cleft of mouth rather oblique ; maxillary reaches to behind eye, 

 and is moderately dilated behind. Origin of dorsal fin nearer the ventrals ; 

 its last ray is above the anterior anal rays. Pectoral fin narrow, nearly as 

 long as head, reaching to or beyond end of anal fin. Black. Length 2- 

 inches. Two specimens known, one from the mid-Atlantic (1,500 fathoms), 

 the other from oif Pernambuco. (Giinther.) (crassus, thick; -ceps, head.) 



Scopelus crassiceps, GUNTHER, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 11, 1878, 185, deep sea, mid-Atlantic, 



and off Pernambuco. 



Melampltaex crassiceps, GUNTHER, Challenger Report, XXII, 28, PI. vnr, Fig. B, 1887. 

 Pleclromus crassiceps, GOODE & BEAN, Oceanic Ichthyology, 180, 1895. 



1226. PLECTROMUS CRISTICEPS (Gilbert). 



Head long, 2| in length ; depth 3f ; length of caudal peduncle 4. 

 Greatest depth of caudal peduncle $ its length. Head narrower than in 

 M. lugubriSj its anterior profile descending more gradually. Mouth less 

 oblique, the lower jaw included, the maxillary extending behind eye, 2J 

 in head; snout 4fc; interorbital width 2*; eye 7$. D. 111,13; A. 11,9. 

 Pectorals long, 1 in head. Ventrals I, 7 or I, 8. System of mucous canals 

 on head highly developed, their margins raised into high thin crests, usu- 

 ally with undulating margins and more or less serrulated. A rather long, 

 sharp, slender spine, directed upward and forward on middle of snout. 

 Two or three spines at lower posterior angle of cheek ; marginal portion 

 of preopercle extremely thin and flexible, its lower limb sharply serrated. 

 From the upper anterior angle of opercle 2 ridges diverge, the one run- 

 ning backward terminating in a spinous point. Opercular margin serru- 

 late. Mandibles meeting on median line below, their edges produced to 

 form a conspicuous median crest. Their lateral margins form membranous 

 wings which combine with similar prolongations from the suborbital 

 bones to overlap the cleft of the mouth. Teeth minute, equal, in a single 

 series in both jaws. Vomer and palatines toothless. Gill rakers long, 

 broad at base, compressed, weak, about 15 below angle. Posterior line of 

 occiput slightly nearer front of dorsal than end of snout ; length of fin 

 equaling its distance from base of caudal. Spines slender, pungent, weak. 

 Origin of anal under the fourth from the last ray of dorsal, the length of 

 its base scarcely exceeding length of snout. Anal spines rather strong, 

 the two intimately soldered together, their outlines distinct. Scales 

 entirely lost, apparently about 23 in number. Black anteriorly, brownish 



