Myctophidæ.—The large family of Myctophidæ, or lantern-fishes, is made up of small fishes allied to the Aulopidæ, but with the body covered with luminous dots, highly specialized and symmetrically arranged. Most of them belong to the deep sea, but others come to the surface in the night or during storms when the sunlight is absent. Through this habit they are often thrown by the waves on the decks of small vessels. Largely from Danish merchant-vessels, Dr. Lütken has obtained the unrivaled collection of these sea-waifs preserved in the Museum of the University of Copenhagen. The species are all small in size and feeble in structure, the prey of the larger fishes of the depths, from which their lantern-like spots and large eyes help them to escape. The numerous species are now ranged in about fifteen genera, although earlier writers placed them all in a single genus Myctophum (Scopelus).
Fig. 93.—Lantern-fish, Myctophum opalinum Goode & Bean. Gulf Stream.
In the genus Diaphus (Æthoprora) there is a large luminous gland on the end of the short snout, like the headlight of an engine. In Dasyscopelus the scales are spinescent, but in most of the genera, as in Myctophum, the scales are cycloid and caducous, falling at the touch. In Diaphus the luminous spots are crossed by a septum giving them the form of the Greek letter θ (theta). One of the commonest species is Myctophum humboldti.
Fig. 94.—Lantern-fish, Ceratoscopelus madeirensis (Lowe). Gulf Stream.
Chirothricidæ.—The remarkable extinct family of Chirothricidæ may be related to the Synodontidæ, or Myctophidæ. In this group the teeth are feeble, the paired fins much enlarged, and the ventrals are well forward. The dorsal fin, inserted well forward, has stout basal bones. Chirothrix libanicus of the Cretaceous of Mt. Lebanon is remarkable for its excessively large ventral fins. Telepholis is a related genus. Exocœtoides with rounded caudal fin is probably the type of a distinct family, Exocœtoididæ, the caudal fin being strongly forked in Chirothrix. The small extinct group of Rhinellidæ is usually placed near the Myctophidæ. They are distinguished by the very long gar-like jaws; whether they possessed adipose fins or luminous spots cannot be determined. Rhinellus furcatus and other species occur in the Cretaceous of Europe and Asia. Fossil forms more or less distinctly related to the Myctophidæ are numerous. Osmeroides monasterii (wrongly called Sardinioides), from the German Cretaceous, seems allied to Myctophum, although, of course, luminous spots leave no trace among fossils. Acrognathus boops is remarkable for the large size of the eyes.
Fig. 95.—Rhinellus furcatus Agassiz. Upper Cretaceous of Mt. Lebanon. (After Woodward.)
Maurolicidæ.—The Maurolicidæ are similar in form and habit, but scaleless, and with luminous spots more highly specialized. Maurolicus pennanti, the "Sleppy Argentine," is occasionally taken on either side of the Atlantic. Other genera are Zalarges, Vinciguerria, and Valenciennellus.