286 HOLOCEPHALA. 



Genus I — Chimera, Linnaeus. 



Snout prominent, soft, and anteriorly destitute of any appendage. Dorsal fin 

 occupying almost the entire dorsal surface, and armed anteriorly with a strong 

 serrated spine. Anal fin low, and nearly similar to the posterior portion of the dorsal. 

 Tail in the same axis as the body. 



Geographical distribution. — Fishes which do not appear to exceed four or 

 five feet in length, and often reside at great depths. They have been recorded from 

 the arctic, northern and temperate regions of Europe, the Mediterranean, the 

 Pacific coast of North America, Cuba, the Cape of Good Hope, and Japan. 



1. Chimsera monstrosa, Plate CLI. 



Simia marina, Gesner, De Aquat. p. 877 ; Aldrov. pp. 402, 403, 405 ; Jonston, 

 p. 16 and 26, t. vii, f. 6, and viii, f. 8. Gal ens acanthias, "Willugh, p. 57, 

 t. B 9, f . 6 ; Raj, Pise. p. 23 ; Jonston, t. xlv, f. 2. Northern chimcera, Pennant, 

 Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1812), iii, p. 159. 



Chimaera monstrosa, Lin. Mus. Ad. Frid. i, p. 53, pi. xxv, and Syst. Nat. i, 

 p. 401 ; Bloch, Ich. iii, p. 882, t. exxiv ; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 14, pi. viii, f . 25 ; 

 Gmel. Linn. p. 1488; Bl. Schn. p. 349; Lacep. i, p. 392, pi. xix, f. 1; Donovan, 

 Brit. Fish, v, pi. cxi ; Turton, Brit. Fauna, p. 114 ; Flem. Brit. An. p.. 172 ; 

 Faber, Fische Isl. p. 41 ; Gaimard, Voy. Isl. and Grcenl. Zool. pi. xx ; Jenyns, 

 Manual, p. 494 ; Swainson, Fish, ii, p. 323 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. Chimeridei, 

 p. 1-47, tav. i-vii ; Schlegel, Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 300, pt. exxxii ; Bennett in 

 Beechey, Voy. Fish. p. 72, pi. xxiii, f. 3 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. i), ii, p. 364, 

 c. fig. (ed. 2), ii, p. 483, c. fig. (ed. 3), ii, p. 464* ; Bleeker, Nat. Tyd. Ned. Ind. 

 iii, p. 309 ; Kroyer, Danm. Fisk. iii, p. 784 ; White, Catal. p. 122 ; Gray, 

 Chondrop. p. 21 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, iv, p. 705 ; Dumeril, Hist. Poiss. i, p. 686, 

 pi. xiii, f. 3-4, pi. xiv, f . 1 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 349 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 

 p. 206 ; Malm, Fauna, p. 605 ; Canestrini, Fauna Ital. Pesc. p. 62 ; Poey, An. 

 Soc. Esp. v, p. 378, pi. xiii ; Winther, Pro. Dan. Mar. p. 56 ; Giglioli, Catal. 

 Pesc. Ital. p. 51 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, i, p. 455, fig. 79. 



Chimoera argentea, Ascan. Icon. pi. xv. 



Chimcera borealis, Shaw, Zool. v, 2, p. 365, pi. clvii. 



Chimaera mediterranea, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 53, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 168. 



Chimcera cristata, Faber, Fish. Isl. p. 45 ; Dumeril, 1. c. p. 688. 



Callorhynchus centrina, and atlanticus, Gronov. ed Gray, pp. 15, 16. 



Arctic chimcera, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 145, pi. xxxiv. 



Head large and conical, body compressed, tapering off to a fine tail. Eyes — 

 large, about 3 diameters from the end of the snout. On the upper surface 

 of the head, a little anterior to the orbit, there exists in the male a fringed tuft- 

 like process. Mouth inferior, small, furnished with two dental plates in the 

 upper and one in the lower jaw. Several rows of pores on the head. Gill- 

 opening just in front of the base of the pectoral fin. Fins — first dorsal triangular, 

 anteriorly with a strong spine which posteriorly is finely serrated. The second 

 dorsal commences just behind the termination of the first, it is low, and continued 

 some distance, when a third and still smaller one commences. Pectorals large, 

 nearly triangular, and almost reaching the ventral ; the latter in the male* with 

 claspers, each of which consists of two branches rather longer than the snout ; 

 the inner one of which is subdivided into one with a spinate covering, and 

 another which is cartilaginous and styliform. Two low anal fins, the second 

 commencing under the third dorsal. The tail ends in a finless filament often 



* The figure of a female is in C. Bonaparte's Fauna Italica, and which is reproduced in 

 Yarrell's Brit. Fish. ed. 3, vol, ii, p. 468, 



