186 DEEP SEA FISHES. 



eighth times the length of the snout. Barbel short, less than half the 

 length of the eye. Four gills, a slit behind the fourth ; membranes hardly 

 miited, free from tlie isthmus ; rakers short, one fourth as long as the eye, 

 curved, 4 -|- 12 on the forward edge of the first arch. Pseudobranchite 

 glandular. Vent below the twenty-first ray of the second dorsal, or about 

 midway from head to end of dorsal base. 



First ray of anterior dorsal longest, more than two thirds as long as the 

 head, prolonged in a filament, above the axil of the pectoral. The notch 

 between the dorsals is very narrow. Anal fin originating below the twenty- 

 second ray of the second dorsal, median rays shortened. Pectorals small, 

 more than half as long as the head. Ventrals inserted about half way 

 between the pectoral bases and the isthmus, first ray long, second ray 

 longest and filamentary, nearly as long as the longest ray of the dorsal, 

 three fourths as long as the head. Caudal pedicel slender ; fin narrow, 

 median rays longest. 



Scales small, thin, bearing longitudinal striae on half or more of their 

 length, covering body and head. Brancliiostegal rays and bases of fins 

 scaly. Eleven series of scales between the dorsal and the lateral line. 



Dark brownish, probably tinted with purple in life ; linings of mouth, 

 gill chamber, and abdomen black. 



In comparison with types of yl. viola it is found that the violet color of 

 the latter appears on a specimen that has lost its scales ; on such as have 

 the scales the color is dark brown to blackish. The description of A.rostrata 

 says "This species is readily distinguished by the peculiarly produced snout, 

 which forms a short, triangular, pointed lamina, sharply keeled on the sides, 

 and overreaching the cleft of the mouth." The figure given in the " Chal- 

 lenger ' report is not so sharply keeled on the sides, but for this reason it no 

 doubt better represeuts a specimen on which the tissues are not so much 

 contracted and shrunken by preservatives. A. rliina has a longer dorsal and 

 smaller scales than A. microlepis, and it differs in other respects, though the 

 two species are somewhat closel}' allied. 



