CHAP. XXII 



HAPLOMI 613 



The members of this Family vary much in form, and among 

 them are to be found 'some of the most curious adaptations to 

 bathybial existence. One of the best known is Harpodon nehereus, 

 which, when newly taken, is brilliantly phosphorescent all over 

 the body ; in a salted and dry condition it is the " Bombay-duck," 

 a delicacy eaten with curries, and exported in large quantities from 

 the west coast of India. It is not known to occur at any great 

 depth, and is not even restricted to the sea, being very abundant 

 in the rivers and estuaries of Bengal and Burma ; whilst an allied 

 species, IT. squamosus, is found in the Indian Ocean at depths 

 of 120 to 300 fathoms. In Bathypiterois, the eyes are very 

 small ; some of the rays of the paired fins being excessively pro- 

 longed, acting as tactile organs, and compensating the reduction in 

 the eyes. Sir John Murray has observed about B. longipes : 

 "When taken from the trawl [from 2650 fathoms] they were 

 always dead, and the long pectoral rays were erected like an 

 arch over the head, requiring considerable pressure to make 

 them lie along the side of the body ; when erected they 

 resembled Pennatulids like Umhellula." In Ipnops, which 

 resembles in general form the large-eyed Clilorophthalmus gracilis, 

 the upper surface of the broad spatulate snout is occupied by 

 a luminous organ longitudinally divided into two symmetrical 

 halves, and the eyes are absent, unless, as first supposed, this extra- 

 ordinary organ be a modification of them ; but Professor Moseley's 

 examination seems to have proved beyond doubt that it is a 

 special form of phosphorescent organ, the object of which would be 

 to attract other creatures to the wide gape of a Fish which, living 

 in the abysses of the sea and deprived of organs of sight and 

 touch, would have great difficulty in procuring its food. Odonto- 

 stomus, with a very large eye which can be turned upwards and 

 sidewards, and enormous compressed curved teeth, barbed at the 

 tip and depressible backwards, is one of the few Scopelids in 

 which scales are completely absent. 



The numerous species (about 50) of Scopelus and their allies 

 are moderate-sized or small pelagic and deep-sea forms found in 

 nearly all the seas, some coming to the surface at night, whilst 

 othei^ are confined to great depths ; they are remarkable for the 

 series of phosphorescent spots (photophores) on the body, and in 

 some species also on the head, where they may form large patches 

 on the snout. The arrangement of these photophores is a very 



