STOMIATOIDS. 269 



extremity, is roiinrled superiorly on the posterior margin, and extends very 

 little farther backward than tlie orbit. The scales ai'c large, thin, smooth, 

 and deciduous; those on the lateral line are nnich differentiated. 



Body black, lighter and silvery on the lower portions of the head and 

 the anterior parts of the abdomen ; tins lighter, adipose possibly luminous ; 

 nasal sacs lighter. 



station. Latitude. Longitude. Depth Temperature. Bottom. 



3433 25° 26' 15" N 109° 48' W. 1218 lathoms 36.5° F. Br. M. bk. Sp. 



STOMIATOIDS. 



Little is known of the hal)its of any of the tishes which for convenience 

 are placed together in this group. Specimens picked np from the surface of 

 the ocean have led to the conclusion that they live near the surface and are 

 nocturnal ; on the other hand, structure, colors, and the fact that the speci- 

 mens taken have commonly been secured over the deep sea or in dredges 

 operating at great depths, rather than on the shoals, favors the idea of a 

 bathybial habitat. The position of the barbel below the head and of the 

 lanterns below the bod}', in function downward, would indicate a dwelling 

 place at some distance off rather than immediately on the floor of the sea. 

 Up to date the horizontal distribution has included the tropical and the 

 temperate regions of the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean, its 

 greatest extension toward the poles being by way of the Gulf Stream and 

 the Mediterranean. The group has not yet been reported from the south 

 Atlantic, or the southeastern Pacific. Vertically, if the specimens entered 

 the dredges at the bottom, the different genera range down to more than 

 two thousand fathoms. There is little in the recorded bottom temperatures 

 of the stations that might preclude a polar distribution ; but the possibility 

 exists that the waters of the actual habitat are nearer the surface and much 

 warmer, a supposition which will account for the peculiarities of the hori- 

 zontal distribution as now established. 



Of the six species in the present collection five are apparently new. 

 One of the five is a very distinct species of the distantly related genus 

 Chauliodus; it is described below, with a species from the Society Islands, 

 and remarks are there made concerning these and other species of the 

 family Chauliodidoe. Three of the five new species belong to the compara- 

 tively well known genus Stomias; and another represents a new genus. 



