80 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



to fishes, the nearer we obtain them to the surface of the sea or 

 ocean, the more do they come to resemble, both in form and 

 structure, what we see in ordinary fishes of the shallower waters. 

 All four of the forms shown in the figures belong to new species, 

 and in one case to both new genus and species (Fig. 15). This 

 latter is of the order Anacanthini of the family Ophidiidw,it being 

 in the genus Neobythites of Goode and Bean, and has been called 

 by Mr. Alcock N. steatiticus. To the order Anacanthini are also 

 referred the cods, the haddocks, the ling, and similar fishes 

 (Gadidw), also all the so-called "Flatfishes" and their kin, as 

 flounders, soles, and halibuts (Pleuronectidw), and other fam- 

 ilies. 



To me, the fish shown in Fig. 15 superficially resembles the 

 common torsk of Europe (Bromius vulgaris), which last is not 

 only an Anacanthid, but also one of the cod family, a Gadoid. 

 Fig. 16 represents a small, very black fish which was taken at 

 nearly 600 fathoms, and consequently more closely resembles 

 some of the forms coming from still greater depths. Especially 

 is this true of its gaping jaws and long, slender teeth, as in the 

 " Torchfish." 0. trains (Fig. 16) belongs to the order Physoitoini, 

 and the family Scopelidw. It has no scales, and is supposed to 

 possess rows of small luminous organs on the inner border of the 

 lower jaws and elsewhere. Fig. 17 represents a very interest- 

 ing little deep-sea fish (order Acanthopterygii, fain. TrachinidcB), 

 being of the same great group to which so many of our common 

 fishes belong, as the perch .(Percidw), the mackerels (Scom- 

 bridw), the mullets (MugilidcB), and a perfect host of other fam- 

 ilies. 



Fig. 18 is a fish that belongs to the same order as the species 

 shown in Fig. 15, and to the cod group (Gadidw), to which, as 

 I have said above, the latter is related. This is rather a large type, 

 of peculiar form and color, being a light pinkish-brown, with a 

 silvery sheen, the belly, throat, and gill membrane being a deep 

 black. 



As time goes by, we may look with great confidence toward 

 the taking of still more remarkable forms from the ocean's 

 depths, and even at still greater distances below the surface. 

 This will not be done upon any great scale, however, until the 

 United States Government takes the matter in hand, and sends 

 to sea a fully equipped expedition, with every modern appliance 

 and facility aboard, and a select corps of working naturalists to 



