16 
Mitchillina JORDAN and EVERMANN, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No.47, pt.l, 1896, 
———^ m — — ■ — tm m ■ — ——— 
p.453. Type A1 epocephal us bairdii GOODE and BEAN, monotypic. 
Benthosphyraena COCKERELL, Bull. U.S. Geolog. Surv., 1918 (1919), p. 172. 
Type Alepocephalus macropterus Vaillant. 
Erloara GILL and TOWNSEND, Prac. Biol. Soo. Washington, vol.ll, Sep.17, 1897, 
r 
p.232. Type Erioara salmonea GILL and TOWNSEND, monotypic. 
Body moderately elongate, comoressed, with moderate or short caudal 
peduncle. Head moderate, 2 '3/4 to 4. Snout moderate. Eye large. Jaws 
• -.i 
nearly even in front. Series of small teeth on premaxillaries, mandibles 
and palatines and sometimes on vomer. Opercles large, thin. Gill openings 
wide, covered partly by entirely separate and overlapping gill membranes and 
by continuation of skin of head. Hill rakers numerous, close set, rather 
long. Pseudobranchiae present. Branchiostegals 6. Head naked. Scales fine 
to large, cycloid, deciduous. Pin bases scaly. Lateral line complete, scales 
tubular. Dorsal and anal posterior, opposite or nearly so. Caudal forked. 
Paired fins well developed, rather small. 
Bathypelagic, mostly in tropical seas. Following Norman with the in¬ 
clusion of Conocara , Mitchillina and Bentho sphyraena, a very wide range of 
variation in squamation is found in the present assemblage, ^t also follows 
Ericara, based on a large unique example and without any very definite ex¬ 
ternal characters, should also be admitted. 
ANALYSIS OF SPECIES 
1 
a. ALEPOCEPHALUS . SQales moderately small, 50 to 58 in lateral line. 
mmm » 
2 
b. Maxillary reaches within eye but not to eye center. 
