82 General Notes. [ January, 
there were still Macruri, to which may be added species of Ba- 
thynectes, Coryphenoides, Malaccocephalus, Bathygadus, Argy- 
ropelecus, Chauliodus, Bathypterois, with fins transformed into 
tactile appendages (B. /ongifilts), Stomias, Malacosteus, with the 
skin of an intense black, and with phosphorescent jugal plates ; 
Alepocephalus, etc. All these fishes, on arriving at the surface, 
were dead, the gas was separated from the blood, so as to produce 
a sort of froth, and many of them were deformed by the enor- 
mous distention of their swimming bladder. The species of this 
group, which inhabit the abysses of the sea, have a special aspect, 
and are readily recognizable. Their skin, covered with a very 
thick coat, never has lively colors; it is grayish, or of a velvet 
black, and the scales are not very solidly attached; the muscles 
are not thick, and are of a soft consistence ; their bones are soft 
and have a spongy structure; their mouth is usually large, and 
armed with sharp, hook-like teeth. Most of these fishes live in 
the ooze, or at its surface. All that were observed by the Talis- 
man party had normally developed eyes, whose mode of action 
in a medium completely obscure would be difficult to understand, 
if it did not find its explanation in the existence of phosphores- 
cent plates, or of a covering of luminous slime, which can shine 
at a certain distance. In the black Malacosteus these plates are 
situated at the eyes; in other species they are disposed in lines 
on the lateral parts of the body. 
The Pandali have given place to the Heterocarpus, with the 
carapace furnished with projecting edges; to species of Penzeus, 
whose posterior feet resemble antennz, and to enormous shrimps 
of a blood-red color, and with extremely long antennz, which 
were previously unknown, and should be placed in the genus 
rista. 
These crustacea were common, and several times they were 
caught in such abundance that the cook claimed his share of 
them. The Nephropsis appeared at this level; they are blind 
crustacea, which externally resemble some kinds of crayfishes, ot 
a coral red. Their geographical distribution seems to be very 
extensive ; for they have been found on each side of the Atlantic, 
in the Antilles, while a Chinese species which seems to be identi- 
cal, at least very near, has been dredged at a great depth near the 
Andaman islands. 
The Pentacheles and the Polycheles, whose eyes are atrophied, 
conceal themselves in the ooze, only extending their long, slender 
pincers adapted to seize their prey. They alone represent in 
actual nature the Eryons, so common in the jurassic seas. 
The Nematocarcini, with remarkably long feet, live in the same 
conditions. The crabs have become rarer, though some species 
still exist. These are the Maians (Scyramathia, Lispognathus), 
some Homolians of a new species, Lithodes of great size, hereto- 
fore peculiar to Arctic and Antarctic seas. A yery large Lithodes | 
A 
