536 MR. F. DAY ON ANGUILLA KIENERI. [JunC 6, 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXXV. 



Fig. 1. AcUnomctra annulafa, showing the disk with its cirri, the mode of 

 division of the arms, and one arm along the whole of its uninjured 

 extent. 



2. View of part (fig. 1, ,r) of the dorsal surface of the arm. 

 '2 a. View of dorsal surface-further out (fig. \,y). 



2 b. View of ditto, near the tip : all X 4. 



3. The first pinnule (of 50 joints), X 3. 



3 a.. A pinnule (of 21 joints) near the middle of the arm, X 6. 



3 6. A pinnule (of 26 joints) from near the end of the arm, X t). The 

 hooks on the free ends of the later pinnules are shown. 



4. A cirrus, X 6. 



4. On the Identity of AnguUla kieneri, Giiiitlier, with a 

 Gadoid Lycodes. By Francis Day, F.Z.S. 



[Received May 26, 1882.] 



In the • Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' 1 874 (xiii. pp. 138, 

 139), Dr. Giinther gave some notes upon fishes obtained at consider- 

 able depths in the North Atlantic, remarking (p. 139) that "a small 

 fourth bottle contains only one specimen ; it is labelled, in Mr. 

 Couch's handwriting, ' Ophidium — eel-like, deep sea — 18tJ9. H.M.S. 

 ' Porcupine.' ISO fathoms.' This specimen is the young of AnguUla 

 kieneri, a species hitherto known from the Mediterranean only." 

 The capture of this so-called "eel" is part of the evidence adduced 

 to prove " that fishes hitherto known from more southern latitudes 

 occur in the North Atlantic at a moderate depth (of between 80 and 

 200 fathoms)." 



It was with some interest that I commenced my examination of 

 this British fish, which had been placed in such dissimilar positions 

 in the ichthyological system, viz. by Couch among the Gadoids, by 

 Giinther among the Eels. The first thing that struck my attention 

 was that it possessed small and jugular ventral fins and non-imbricate 

 scales on the body, and was evidently widely separated from the Eels. 

 Spineless, with its vertical fins confluent, a narrow gill-opening, the 

 gill-membranes attached to the isthmus, and the upper jaw longer 

 than the lower, it was evidently a Gadoid (as characterized in the 

 British-Museum Catalogue), but had not the wide gill-openings of 

 fishes belonging to the genus Ophidium, in which Couch had located it, 

 hut the narrow ones of the Lycodontidse, and appertained to Li/codes, 



Lycodes isnot aMediterraneau form, but is found in Arctic America 

 and Greenland, from which wanderers may extend southwards ; for 

 this genus has been shown to possess more species than any other 

 deep-sea Arctic form at present known. 



Naming such a young example of Li/codes, or instituting a new 

 designation for the reception of this specimen, would be open to 

 strong objections\ Soon after it was captured it was evidently 

 placed in very strong alcohol, and as a result has stiffened, shrivelled, 

 and contorted into an unnatural shape. Irrespective of this, as 



'■ Until it can be ascertained what species it is the young of, the specimen 

 may be termed Lycodes kieneri, Giinther. 



