Description of <I>Alepocephalus bairdii</I>, a new species of fish from the deep sea fauna of the western Atlantic

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 65

Mediterranean

and

theI^ortliSea,

npper Germany

notexcepted. This factincontestablyi^roves thatthese birds crossthisdistanceinoneun- interrupted flight,

and

during- one short springnight,viz,in to 10 houi^s,

which

gives a rate oflocomotion of40 geographicalmilesper hour. Wonderful, incomprehensible,Iadmit,butstillremaining afact.

The

slow

clumsy Eoyston Crow

{Corvus comix)crossesfrom here

due

west* overtoEngland,atarate of 27geographical miles

an

hour,

and

resultsof25miles

have

been furnished

by

thesemi-domesticatedCarrier- pigeon.

The

distancefrom the northofAfricatoHeligolandisequiva- lent tothat

from Newfoundland

to Iceland,

and

therefore

no

objection whatever can

be

raisedagainstyourbirdscrossingovertousdirect.

Allthiswith plentyof evidence,

and

agxeat

many

points besides,is

readyinmanuscriptsufficientto coverfrom fiftyto sixtypages octavo print,

and by

the

end

of

May

I shallbe readyforthe press altogether.

I greatlycount

on

yourlenience,

my

dearsir,whilstallowing

my pen

torun

on

at such

an

unpardonable length,but perceiving from your contributionthat you,likemyself,

have

studiedthe

grand tbeme

ofthe migrationinnature,

which

is quite a different matterfrouialllearned treatisesthereon

worked

out

by

the

lamp

ofthe studio,

my hobby

felt socomfortableinyour genial

company

thatit boltedoft*withthisun- resistingtide.

Begging

once

more

to

pardon my having

ventured

on

your time

and

patience at such uni)ardonable length, in

more

or less objectionable Englishthereto,

Iremain, dearsir,yours,verytruly,

H. GATKE.

DESCRIPTION OF

AliEPOCEl'irAliUSBAIR»II,

A NEW SPECIES OF FISH FRO-U THE BEEP-SEA

FAUBTAOS"

THE WESTERN ATLANTIC.

By G. HUO'WN GOODE

aiad

TAKI.ET01V

II.

BEAN.

The

^National

Museum

hasrecentlyreceivedfrom Mr.ChristianJohn- son, ofthe schooner

WiUiam Thompson

of Gloucester,a single speci-

men

of

an un

described species of Alepocephalus taken

on

the

Grand

Banks,at a depthof200 fathoms.

The

only other

Imown

represent- ativeofthisgenusistheAlepocephalus rostratus Risso,a

member

ofthe

*Dnriugthefalltliisliue of migration,so farasitcomes underobservationhere, dayor night,isfromdueeasttowest,sometimesperhaps withthe declination of a pointtothe south.

56 PKOCEEDINGS OF UNITED

STtATES

NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Metliterraneaufauna.

The

speciesisdedicatedtothedistinguisliedSec- retary ofthe SmithsonianInstitution.

DiAGTv^osis.

—

Bodj-comi3aratively elongate,

somewhat

compressed,its greatest height, atapoint

midway between

pectorals

and

A^entral inser- tions,contained5^-timesinitslengthto the origin of themiddle caudal rays, its greatest width equal to one-tenth of total length, the least heightoftailcontained11timesinlengthofbody.

Scales large, thin, oblong, triangular at the free end, those at the baseofthe analfinhaving thefree

end more produced

than theothers.

Sixty-fivescales inthelateral line,seven

rows between

it

and

theorigin of the dorsal,eleven

between

that ofthe anal

and

thelateral line. Scales extendforashortdistance

upon

the basesofthedorsal

and

analfins.

Head

moderately compressed, snout subconical, the lower

jaw

in- cluded withinthe jipper

when

the

mouth

isclosed.

The

lengthofthe

head

iscontained 4i times in length ofbody,slightlyexceeding twice thelengthofthelower jaw.

Width

ofthe

head

equalto thelengthof theoperculum

and

veryslightlylessthan thatofthe

upper

jaw.

Width

of interorbital area half of the least height oftail.

Length

ofsnout halfthat of themandible,

which

isone-ninthofthe total length.

Diam-

eterof orbitequaltolengthof snout.

Dorsal inserted directly above the vent, slightly in

advance

of the anal

and

atadistancefromthe snout nearly equalto two-thirds ofthe totallengthofthe body.

Length

oflongestrayof dorsal one-half that of the postorbital por- tionofthehead.

The

distance of theanal from the snoutisalmost three times the lengthofthe head,its firstray being about under thefourth i-ayofthe dorsal. Itslengthofbaseisgreaterthanthat of the dorsal

by

one-fifthofthelengthofthelatter; itslongestrayslightlj^exceeds tbe longest ofthedorsal.

Middle caudal rays equal in length to longest ray of anal,the ex- ternalrays

somewhat more

thantwice as long.

Distanceofpectoral

from

snoutthreetimesas great as the leastheight of thetail; itslength one-tenth of total length

and

equal towidthof body, reachingtoninth

row

ofscales.

Distanceof ventralfrom snout equaltotwicethe lengthofthehead,

itslengthslightlygreaterthanthat ofmiddle caudalrays.

lladialformula:

B.VL

D.22.

A.

25. C.10. P.12.

AM,

9. Csec.

Pyl.15.

Teeth

on

theintermaxillaries,mandible,

and

palatines.

Color.

— Uniformindigo-blue, mouth andthe gill-membranes.

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 57

Table of Measurements.

Currentnumberof specimen.

Lengthto origin ofmiddle caudal rays

.

Eody

:

Greatestheiglit Greatest width Heightatventrals Least heightoftail

Head:

Greatest length Greatest width Widthofinterorbitalarea Lengthof snout Lengthofoperculum Lengthofupper jaw Lengthof mandible Distancefromsnouttoorbit Diameteroieye Dorsal(spinous)

:

Distancefromsnout Lengtii of base Lengthoflongest ray.

.

Anal:

Distancefromsnout...

Lengthofbase Lengthof longest ray.

.

Caudal:"

Lengthofmiddle rays.

Lengthofe.^terual rays Pectoral

:

DistiMieefromsnout...

Leniith Ventral

:

Distance from snout

—

Length Brauchiostegals Dorsal Anal Pectoral Ventral.

!N'urabcrofscales in lateral line

Kumbi-r^<)ftransverserowsuliuve latcnil line ^-•

Xumbiroftransverse rows- belowlateral linefromoriginof ventral

.

iSTumbcr ofca;calappendages Vent:

Distance from snout

Wasiiixgtox,Jjjril 25, 1879,

22,4

MilU- metres.

lOOths of length.

19 10

8i 4* 5i

H

11 5i 5i 65 15i

6 68i 18i Oi 6i 14 27 10 48

OIV

THE SPECIES OF ASTKOSCOPr.S OF THE EASTERN UMTEH

STATES.

By TAKI.ETON

IS.

BEAN.

The

family TJranoscopidiv of Gill has

two

representativeson the east coast of theUnitedStates,Astroscopusy-(jrwctim (0.

&

V.)Gill,

and

A.

anoplus (C.

&

V.)Brevoort.

The

former

was

describedfrom theCarib-

bean

Sea,

and

is

now

forthefirsttime recordedinourwaters. A.^cino- plus

was

founded

npon young

individuals sent

by

Professor LeConte,

and

the immaturityof the specimens hasled toconsiderable confusion in thediagnosesof genera. Cuvier

and

Valenciennessupposedthe spe- ciestobescaleless. Brs. Gill

and

Giinther both

employed

this as one of the characters separating it from Uranoscoims,the latter in18G0*

assigning theU. anoplos ofCuvier

and

Valenciennesto his

new

genus,

*Cat. Fish.Brit.Mus.ii,18C0, p.22<>.

~"