Jordan and Evermann. Pishes of North America. 883 



" This fish, the ' Coelho ' or Rabbit Fish of Madeira, lives habitually at 

 the bottom, and is taken at most seasons at a depth of from 100 to 300 

 or 400 fathoms, and in the summer months, according to Lowe, it is gen- 

 erally one of the commonest and cheapest fishes in the market, where it 

 is sold in bundles, chiefly to the Portuguese. It breeds in August and 

 September, and attains a length of li to 2| feet. It is a very wary fish, 

 its name of rabbit fish being due to its habit of snapping off bait. Sev- 

 eral specimens were obtained in Bermuda in 1877 by Dr. Goode. The 

 fishermen obtain it at a depth of 60 to 100 fathoms, and it is known to 

 them as the ' Catfish.'" (Goode & Bean.) (Prometheus, a classical name 

 "par une allusion facile d saisir.") 

 Gempylus prometheus, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vin, 213, pi. 5222, 1831, St. 



Helena. 

 Gempylus solandri, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, I. c., vin, 215, 1831, New Holland ; after 



SOLANDER MS. 



Gempylus prometheus, VALENCIENNES, Ichth. lies Canaries, 51, pi. 11. 

 Prometheus atlanlicus, LOWE, Trans. Zob'l. Soc. London, 11, 181, 1841, Madeira. 

 Promethichthys attentions, GOODE & BEAN, Ocean. Ichth., 200, 1895. 



We provisionally associate with Promethichthys, the fish called Dicrotus 

 parvipinnis by Goode & Bean, the very young or larva of some unknown 

 species. If the small number of dorsal and anal rays is permanent, this 

 species would form a new genus, between Promethichthys and Gempylus, 

 the small soft dorsal and anal marking a transition toward the Lepidopidce. 



1272. PROMETHICHTHYS PARVIPINNIS (Goode & Bean). 



Head 2i ; depth 6 ; eye 6 ; height of tail 2 in eye. D. XXI, 11 ; A. II, 

 8 ; P. 12 ; V. I, 1, or I, 2. Upper jaw reaching vertical from front of 

 orbit. Three large fangs in upper jaw, a large fang near tip of lower jaw, 

 and 8 smaller teeth. Three weak, diverging spines on the border of pre- 

 operculum. Dorsal originating at a distance behind eye about equal to 

 li times length of eye, or about over middle of operculum ; spines all 

 serrated, the first 5 about equal ; they diminish gradually in size from fifth, 

 and the last is only about i as long as eye. The ventral origin is under 

 the sixth dorsal spine ; the spine strongly serrated, its length equal to 

 that of ninth dorsal spine ; ventral with either a single bifid ray or 2 

 simple rays. Color silvery ; caudal peduncle and top of back at base of 

 dorsal brownish. Western Atlantic; Albatross stations 2537,2542, and 

 2601; about 40 N., 70 W.; known only from larval specimens, (parvus, 

 small ; pinna, fin.) 

 Dicrottis parvipinnis, GOODE & BEAN, Oceanic Ichthyology, 201, 1895, Gulf Stream. 



401. GEMPYLUS, Cuvier & Valenciennes. 

 (SNAKE MACKERELS.) 



Gempylus, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vin, 207, 1831, (serpew). 

 I.i-nniisoma, LESSON, Voyage Coquille, Poissons, 160, 1826, (thyrsitoides). 

 Zyphothyca, SWAINSON, Nat. Hist. Fishes, 11, 1839, 239, (coluber). 



Body very much elongate, compressed, and band-shaped, approaching 

 the form of Lepidopus. Head long, pointed anteriorly, the lower jaw 



