138 Dr. A. Giinther on Fishes obtained from 



XX. — Xotes on some Fishes obtained at considerable Depths 

 in the North Atlantic. By Dr. Albert Gunther, F.R.S. 



Professor Wyville Thomson, before his departure with 

 the 'Challenger ' expedition, kindly placed in my hands for 

 examination some fishes which had been obtained at consider- 

 able depths during the cruise of H.M.S. ' Porcupine' in the 

 year 18G9. In the first instance they had been sent for 

 determination to the late Mr. Couch of Polperro, who affixed 

 labels with names to the bottles ; but no descriptions of the 

 species were published by him ; so that I should have omitted 

 to allude to his nomenclature (which cannot be adopted), if I 

 had not been informed that the fishes were enumerated under 

 those names in one of the ' Porcupine ' reports. 



Small as the collection is, it is of interest in two respects : — 



1. Inasmuch as it offers additional evidence that fishes 

 hitherto known from more southern latitudes occur in the 

 North Atlantic at a moderate depth (of between 80 and 200 

 fathoms) *. 



2. Inasmuch as the fishes from the depth indicated do not 

 yet show the Avell-known characteristics of deep-sea fishes 

 developed in any degree. Therefore fishes like Plajyodiis^ 

 Melanocetus, Saccojjhari/nx, JRegalecus, Chiasmodus, &c. must 

 inhabit a much deeper horizontal zone (from 300 to 800 

 fathoms), as, indeed, has been supposed and affiraied for many 

 years. 



The frst bottle is marked "No. 17. (18. 6. 69). 54. ION. 

 10. 59 W. 183 fms., muddy sand." Mr. Couch intended to 

 describe the specimen contained in it as "2Iacrourus linearis.'^ 



This fish, which is not in good condition, crabs having eaten 

 holes into various parts of the body, proves to be Gadiculus ar- 

 fjenteus^ described by Guichenot in 'Explor. Alger., Poiss.' 1850, 

 p. 101, pi. vi. fig. 2, from specimens obtained at Algiers. I am 

 not aware that the species has been noticed since ; and therefore 

 it is a point of interest to meet with it again in the North 

 Atlantic. There is nothing whatever to indicate an affinity 

 to Macrourus ; indeed Gadiculus proves to be a Gadus slightly 

 modified for living at a greater depth. Even the vomerine 

 teeth, by the alleged absence of which, according to Guichenot, 

 the genus was technically distinguished from GaduSy are 

 present ; but the scales, which are deciduous, and lost in our 

 specimen, are larger than in the allied species of Gadus. 

 The formula of the fin-rays is D. 9 or 10 J 13 | 18. A. 17 | 16. 

 V. 6. The specimen is 5^ inches long. 



* See -\nn. & :\Iag. Nat. Hist. 1867, xx. p. 289. 



