196 DEEP SEA FISHES. 



down and backward as a much rounded lobe making the hind margin deeply 

 concave above it. 



First dorsal originating above the bases of the pectorals ; first spine 

 small, weak ; second slender, with small spinules at a moderate distance from 

 one another, with a filamentary extremity; base as long as the eye, de- 

 scending gradually backward. Second dorsal low, scarcely visible forward, 

 separated from the first dorsal by one length of the base of the latter. 

 Anal well developed, origin below the middle of the space between the 

 dorsals. Ventrals small, first ray with a hair-like filament which reaches 

 back upon the anal fin, origin little farther backward than that of the pec- 

 torals. Vent close to the origin of the anal, distant from the head less than 

 two fifths of the latter's length. Scales small, harsh with sharp spines in 

 keel-like series, those in the median series larger. Six scales in a row from 

 the lateral line to the base of the first dorsal. 



Black, shading to purple over the muscular portions of the bodj^ ; linings 

 of mouth and body black. 



Macrurus liraticeps sp. n. 



Plate XLV.fys. 1-1 b. 



Br. r. 6 ; D. 10-11 +?; V. 8 ; P. 22. 



Head and body massive ; caudal section elongate, compressed ; greatest 

 depth equal to five sixths of the length of the head. Length of the head 

 about two thirds of the distance from the snout to the anal fin. Bones of 

 the skull firm. Snout large, longer than the orbit, lateral angles moderate 

 and separated by a distance equal to the orbital length. On the skull the 

 rostral ridges are strong, the median being highest and extended back to 

 tlie interorbital region where it becomes lower and continues to the hinder 

 jDortiou of the space. There is a ridge backward from each eye on the 

 crown ; the skull rises in a bony edge above the orbits ; and across the 

 angles between the nostrils and the eye the distance is greater than that 

 between the lateral angles at the end of the snout. Eye large, equal in 

 length to the interorbital width, one and one half times the distance from 



