of the Arabian Sea. 305 



The stomach contained a large Peneeid. 



This species differs from all described Bathytroctes and 

 from all hitherto known Alepocephalidoe in possessing (appa- 

 rently) scaly opercles ; but, apart from the need of actual 

 demonstration on this point, the affinities are so clearly indi- 

 cated that one would hardly wish to separate the species from 

 a family still so incompletely known on the ground of this 

 one peculiarity. 



Narcetes, gen. nov. 



Closely allied to Bathytroctes, Gthr. 



Head naked. Body rather elongate, compressed, covered 

 with scales of moderate size. Eye rather small. Mouth 

 wide ; the maxilla extending beyond the vertical through the 

 middle of the orbit. Fine teeth in premaxillse, maxillse, 

 mandible, palatines, and vomer, those in the premaxillee and 

 mandible pluriserial ; no teeth on the tongue. 



Gill-openings wide ; gill-covers complete; seven branchio- 

 stegals ; four gills, with narrow laraina3 ; gill-rakers long. 

 Pseudobranchiaj present. No adipose dorsal fin. Caudal 

 forked. Pyloric cajca in moderate number. Ovaries with an 

 oviduct. 



10. Narcetes erimelas, sp. n. 



B. 7. D. 15-16. A. 12. C. circ. 35. P. 10-11. 

 V. 9. L. lat. 68. 



Head broad, pyramidal, its length 3g to 3j in the total 

 without the caudal ; body elongate, its greatest height, just 

 behind the gill-opening, about 5^ in the same standard, and 

 gradually diminishing to the caudal peduncle. 



Head-bones sculptured, especially the operculum and pre- 

 operculmii, both of which have their border augmented by a 

 semimembranous corrugated fringe. 



Snout nearly as broad as long, depressed, rounded from 

 side to side, its dorsal and ventral profiles meeting at an acute 

 angle ; its length is a little over ^ that of the head, and more 

 than half as long again as the eye. Nostrils very large. 



Eye rather small, its major diameter 5f in the head-length, 

 and not quite equal to the width of the deeply concave inter- 

 orbital space. 



Mouth wide, oblique ; the maxilla reaches conspicuously 

 behind the vertical through the posterior border of the orbit. 

 The premaxilla is a short strong bone ; the maxilla is com- 



