The Research Vessel/Cape St. Mary of the Fisheries Research Station, Hong Kong, has made series of deep-water Agassiz trawls over the northern part of the South China Sea during the past years. As a result, an adequate collection of deepwater forms of the Brotulidae is now available for a review of the family in the area. The present paper is the first of a series of studies on this collection of brotulids. It involves the proposal of a new genus and species, which was tentatively identified by the author (CHAN, 1965) as a Barathronus species in a list of fishes associated with the occurance of an anacanthobatid skate.

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In 1964 two jawfishes were collected, one from Hong Kong, the other from the South China Sea. These have become the first records of the family Opisthognathidae in the Colony.
The first specimen, 64.5mm in standard length, was collected by the author on board the fishing vessel Yuen Ling (of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Hong Kong) off the entrance to the Taitam Bay, Hong Kong, in 5 to 7 fathoms of water over a sea-bed of soft mud. The life colour pattern of this small jawfish comprised a reddish brown colour to the head and body, and blackish brown median fins, each of which with a narrow pale yellowish white band just above the base of the fin. This specimen is identified to Opisthognathus evermanni (JORDAN and SNYDER), a native of Japan. Its first occurance in southern China has recently been reported by CHU and his collaborators (1962) from O-tau, Kwang-tung Province, China, based on three specimens varying from 52.7 to 78.9mm in standard length. Although CHu's specimens were collected in 1954 (locality and collecting data unavailable), it appeared that they had not been reported in print. As observed by CHU and his collaborators, the present specimen from Hong Kong differs from the Japanese members of the species (JORDAN and SNYDER, 1902) in having an additional pale yellowish white band close to the caudal fin. This caudal band is most likely a variation of the species.
The second jawfish, which is a much larger specimen, cannot be idenitfied to any existing species of the Opisthognathidae . It is, therefore, herein proposed as new. More pertinent references to the study of this jawfish are BEAUFORT (1951) and CHAPMAN (1920).

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Cocotropus KAUP, 1858, is a small genus of considerably uncommon shore fishes of the Indo-Pacific. As far as is known, no attempt has ever been made to revise its species systematically. According to MATSUBARA (1943b) in his study of the Japanese forms and DAY (1878-88) on the typical and Indian species, it is disting uished, among other characters, primarily by having stout and blunt spines to the preorbital and preopercle, and a ventral fin with one spine and three rays. Based on this diagnosis, a number of seven distinct species may be recognised from existing literature: C. echinatus (CANTOR) and C. roseus DAY from India; C. monacanthus (GILCHRIST) from east coast of South Africa; C. dermacanthus (BLEEKER) and C. obbesi WEBER from the Philippines; and C. masudai MATSUBARA and C. kagoshimensis MATSUBARA from Japan. In the present study an eighth species, C. hongkongiensis, is here proposed as new.

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The life history of Hucho perryi (BREVOORT) was studied in the Faren River in northwestern Nemuro, Hokkaido, from late April to early June, 1960. H. perryi is a salmonid fish, which has flattened head, wide gape with stout teeth, many dark dots on the body and larger scales than those of other salmonid fishes (Pl. 4, A). This fish is distributed in the streams and lakes of Hokkaido, southern Kurile Islands and Sahalin.
From April to May after thawing of ice in the river, this fish is observed in deep pools with rocks or many sunken timbers (Fig. 2), and in June when the water temperature rises about 10°C the fish is found also in the shallow and swift waters as well as deep pools. The stomach contents of 22 specimens, 2.9 to 56.0cm in total length, were examined. The larvae of aquatic insects, especially Plecoptera and Tricoptera, were eaten by the fry from 2.9 to 3.2cm. These diets were occurred commonly in the stomach of juveniles from 14 to 18 cm, and loarch, Barbatura toni oreas (JORDAN and FOWLER), were occasionally found together with the insect larvae. The fish larger than 30cm did not eat the insect larvae but took mainly the loarch. Although chum salmon fry, Oncorhynchus keta (WALBAUM), were found as the same time in the river where the examined fish were captured, they were not eaten by this piscivorous fish.
The spawning season of this fish seems to extend from mid-March after breaking of ice to late April in Nemuro district. The knowledge about maturation was a little. The author obtained three mature males larger than 55cm, and also observed one mature female measuring 93 cm from the Shibetsu River. A spawning redd was found in the tributary pouring into the Furen River at Mimakka (Fig. 3), and 1, 358 eyed eggs in all were taken from this redd on May 22. These eggs were salmon pink in color and measured 5.8 to 6.4mm in diameter. They were brought into the laboratory of Nemuro Branch of Hokkaido Salmon Hatchery, and began to hatch on May 28. The alevins were reared until the yolk sac were completely absorbed.
The newly hatched alevins preserving in 70% alcohol were measured 15.1 to 16.6mm in total length (Pl. 4, D). About 40 days after hatching, the alevins attained to 24.0 to 25.6mm. Two-thirds of the yolk sac were consumed and parr marks began to appear vaguely on the body side (Pl. 5, A). It took 52 days for the alevins to absorb completely the yolk sac at the water temperature of 6.0°to 11.3°C. The fry just after consumed the yolk were measured 28.1 to 28.5mm (Pl. 5, B), and they grew up about 38mm by August (Pl. 5, C).

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In the recent time, some rare bathypelagic and bathybenthic fishes which have never been recorded previously from the waters of Hokkaido were captured one after another from off the Pacific coast of Hokkaido. We would like to report, therefore, those interested species as new record for occurrence as unusual fishes from Japan in this series.
Before going further we wish to express here our gratitude to Mr. Motohiro SAKURAI, Chief of Kushiro Fisheries Experimental Station, for allowing him to ex amine those remarkable specimens for study. Acknowledgement is made of the partial financial support of this study through a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science as part of the Japan-U. S. Cooperative Science Program.

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Specimens of Gasterochisma melampus RICHARDSON and Allothunnus fallai SERVENTY were obtained by the Japanese long-line method from off Tasmania (45° 30'S, 140°E) in 1963 and from off Uruguay (40°S, 40-50°W) in July, 1965, and brought to the Misaki Fish Market, Japan. Noteworthy additions to the knowledge of these two little-known fishes are:
Gasterochisma melampus. More than 60 individuals weighing about 4 tons in all were captured by long-lines (bait: Cololabis saira) during less than two weeks at approximately the same fishing ground off Uruguay.
Gill rakers on the outer row of the first gill arch are granular and equipped with sharp spines. The numbers of the principal rakers are 17 on the lower limb, 1 at the angle, and 8 on the upper limb. Smaller auxiliary rakers are distributed irreg ularly between the principal rakers. There are scales buried in the skin on the occiput. These may have been overlooked by WAITE (1913), who reported that the scales on the occiput disappear in the adult.
In the stomach of an Uruguayan specimen (ZIUT 52, 313), numerous pelagic amphipods of 15-20mm, and half-digested skeletons of Alepisaurus were observed.
Allothunnus fanai.The report of the Uruguayan specimens given here re presents the first record of this fish from Atlantic side of South America.
Anterior nostril is very small and barely visible to the naked eye: posterior nostril is slit-like. In a Tasmanian specimen, 87cm in fork length, the areas under the lateral line are scaled partly or entirely. The base of the caudal fin is also scaled.

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In 1953, SMITH described a new species of Pomacentridae, Teixeirichthys mossambicus, collected from the Mozambique Channel, East Africa. The author wishes to report here the occurence of this species and its external characters, because this species is very rare and not recorded from waters of Japan. The external characters of the present specimen are as follows:
D. XIII, 12; A. II, 13; tubes of lateral line 30; scales in longitudinal series 44; 6. scales above lateral line, 12 lower; 10+14 slender gill-rakers on first arch. Head 3.5in standard length; depth 2.4; eye 2.6 in head; snout 3.7; interorbital 2.6; depth of caudal peduncle 1.8. Body elongate oval, compressed. Mouth small; maxillary reach ing to below front edge of pupil. A single series of more or less compressed teeth in each jaw, small laterally, gradually enlarge frontally. Palatines edentate. Sub orbitals very narrow, not smooth; hind edge of preopercle serrate, the lower edge smooth; some moderate denticles on hinder edge of interopercle and about 20 denticles on lower hinder margin of subopercle; opercle not serrate but with two large flat spines. Interorbital slightly convex; snout spongy, with numerous close-set small pores. Scales strongly ctenoid; head with scaly except front half of interorbital; snout, preorbital and chin, which are naked. Lateral line runs in a gently curve almost parallel with dorsal profile and ends below base of eighth dorsal ray. Caudal rather deeply forked, the lobes pointed and the upper one a trifle longer than the lower. Color in formalin light yellowish brown; sides of head with several rows of dark spots; most scales on body with a narrow dark bars, forming about 15 narrow dark bands along side of body. Axil of pectoral with a conspicuous dark spot.
Described and figured from a single specimen, 117mm in length, from Kochi Central Fish Market, April 20, 1962.

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In this paper we have enumerated nineteen unrecorded species of fishes with brief descriptions, which are to be newly added into a list of fishes of Niigata Prefecture, the Japan Sea side . We have now checked just 520 species of fishes from the waters around Niigata Prefecture.
Among the fishes listed herein, there are one basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus; one Pacific salmon, the so-called chinook or king salmon, Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, which seems to be the southern limit of distribution in the Japanese Islands four fresh water fishes chiefly transplanted from the Kanto district of the Pacific coast, such as rainbow trout, Salmo gairdnerii irideus, rose bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus, grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus and deep crussian, Carassius cuvieri; three bramid fish, Brama raii, Steinegeria rubescens, and Taractichthys longipinnis, of which the latter two are rare species and first record from the Japan Sea; a rare and noteworthy pteraclid fish, Centropholis petersi, which seems to be the eighth records of catch from the adjacent waters of Japanese Islands; seven marine fishes of subtropical or temperate-water, such as, Nemipterus virgatus, Hapalogenys nitens, Triacanthodes anomalus anomalus, Lactoria cornutus, Lagocephalus lagocephalus oceanicus, Pseudorhombus, and Poecilopsetta plinthus, of which the puffer, L. l. oceanicus, and the small flat fish, P. plinthus, have not been reported from the Japan Sea probably; and two boreal bottom-fishes, Tilesina gibbosa, and Cyclopteropsis lindbergi.

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Anatomical comparison, especially position to insert the first interneural spine and number of the pyloric caeca, was carried out on the eleven species belonging to four genera of family Mugildae collected from Japan, Formosa and these adjacent waters.
New key as shown in table 2 can be used for the identification of these smaller fish less than five centi-metre in bodylength.

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There were many station which striped mullet larvae were taken with the larva net, and there were located at the inshore to south of Kinkazan Island within the survay area during from Octoter to December. The greatest abundance of larvae occurs inshore and near islands (Fig. 1).
The surface temperature range over which larvae were taken during 1954 to 1961 was from 15.8 to 25.3°C (Fig. 2).
It is suggested that the spawning period of the mullet is mid September through first December, and the peak of it occurs November in the south of the Northeastern Sea of Japan.

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This paper deals with a macroscopical and histological description of the tumors and endocrine glands of two individuals of immature chum-salmon, Oncorhynchus keta (WALBAUM), which were obtained in the course of breeding experiment. The salmon eggs inseminated on November 22nd, 1959 in the Chitose-river, Hokkaido, were transported by air to the Enoshima Aquarium, and reared with cold sea-water until the most of individuals have died of various kind of diseases and accidents.
The proximal pars distalis of the hypophysis of both specimens (A and B) is composed chiefly of acidophils, and the basophils (cyanophils) which seem to be the gonad stimulating cells are meager in number. Accordingly, there found no indication of the yolk formation (vitellogenesis) in the majority of ovarian eggs. The secretory phase of the hypothalamic neurosecretory cells is in a state of low activity, and the amount of neurosecretory substance stored into the neurohypophysis is small. The thyroid gland shows a hypofunctioning figure, and the normal appearance of the corpuscles of STANNIUS is detected. In the B-specimen the normal feature of the adrenal cortical tissue is also encountered.
It is very interesting to find a remark able swelling in the head kidney of the A-specimen, macroscopically. This tumorous development is constructed from a great, deal of lymphocytes which have derived from multiplication of the parenchymatous cells, curled collagenous fibers and reticulum. In several places the tumorous tissues are collapsed owing to the necrosis and changed into serous or lacteal substance, and, finally, an indication of formation of cystic spaces and lacunae, varying in size, aredetected.
A large tumorous growth is also found in the right side of posterior part of the B-specimen, which suppresses the digestive tracts, particularly the rectum, markedly. Just beneath the lateral line of the fish, a severe ulcer which is due to the degeneration and necrosis of the growth is produced. Accordingly, the inside of the growth is exhibited. This tumor is diagnosed as the small round-cell sarcoma developed in the inter-trunk-muscular connective tissue. The tumorous cells, round in shape, invade everywhere into the bundles of muscles, and brought about the transformation of muscles into connective tissues. In the inside of the growth a large lacuna is produced, containing the lacteal substance under the degeneration and necrosis of the tissues.

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[in Japanese]

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The nervus olfactorius is thin and small, since the olfactory bulb lies just behind the olfactory rosette. It supplies the olfactory rosette by a pair of branches, which arise independently. The nervus opticus enters the orbit through the optic foramen bounded by the parasphenoid and pleurosphenoid. During the decussation of optic nerves, the left nerve lies dorsal in most of the cases. The eye muscle nerves emerge from the cranium through the foramen for the trigeminofacial complex, which arises by two roots and emerges out of the cranium through the space between the parasphenoid, pleurosphenoid and prootic. It separates first the hyomandibular trunk intracranially, and splits into supraorbital and infraorbital trunks extracranially. The supraorbital trunk splits into the rami ophathalmicus superficialis facialis and ophthalmicus superficialis trigeminus beyond the eye ball. The infraorbital trunk distinguishes into the ramus buccalis and maxillo-mandibularis trunk. The ramus maxillaris supplies the maxillary barbel and the upper jaw. The ramus buccalis supplies the infraorbital canal of lateral-line system and sense organs of maxillary barbel. The ramus mandibularies trigeminus separates into the external and internal branches before the gap of the mouth and supply the mandibular and mental barbels and lower jaw. Anastomosis exists between ramus maxillaris and ramus buccalis. The ramus lateralis accessorius extends back from the trigeminofacial. complex collecting the dorsal rami of spinal nerves. Both anterior and posterior palatinus branches are present. The nerves glossopharyngeus arises through a single root and emerges through separate foramen. The vagal mass divides into the trunk of branchiales, another trunk of visceralis and the third trunk of ramus lateralis. vagi. The trunk of branchiales again shows division into an anterior, which givesrise to first two branchiales and posterior, which produces the remaining branchiales.. The pharyngeal branches arise from the second and third branchiales and from between the third and fourth branchiales. The respiratory trees on the second and: fourth gill archs are supplied by the branches of the pretrematic of second and the posttrematic of fourth branchiales respectively.

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During investigations on the morphology of Mastacembelus armatus an anomaly was observed in the male gonads of a fish, which was caught from Kalinadi in the vicinity of Meerut. Usually the testes are elongated, cylindrical and unequal in length, the right being smaller than the left. They are attached to each other and to the alimentary canal by mesentery and to the air bladder by mesorchia, which extends in front in the form of two fine threads. In the specimen under report (Fig. 1), the anterior parts of the testes were found intimately fused although the two mesorchia were distinct. A section of this region (Fig. 2) shows that the fused parts of the testes are enveloped in a common sheath of peritoneum, there being no demarcation between their tissues.
The length of these testes, when compared with the normal testes of another specimen of the same size, was found to be nearly equal. The length of the right and left testes in a normal specimen of 48.5 cm. was 9.3 and 9.5 cm. respectively, while the length of the two testes in this specimen (Fig. 1) of 49.7 cm. was 9.7 cm.
This abnormality in the fish is rare and has not so far been reported. It appears that the two testes got fused through their peritoneal covering during development.
I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. B. M. SINHA for the help in preparing the note.

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Lepidocephalichthys guntea shows the development of large acidophil (eosinophilic) cells as well as both abductor and adductor muscles in the gills. The presence of large number of taste-buds on the margin of the primary lamella is a new result reported here. These taste-buds when cut across at the base or at the middle, give the appearance of transitional or multicellular branchial glands as erroneously reported by BEVELANDER (1935).

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The histological observations on the skin of a Clupeoid fish, Gudusia chapra (HAM. BucH.) have been described. The skin is composed of epidermis and dermis with an intermediate basement membrane. The stratified epidermis has a few mucus-cells. The club-cells are lacking. The taste buds and pit organs have not been observed. Granular cells are present. The dermis contains pigment-cells and blood capillaries. The ventral skin shows the absence of pigment-cells.

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(1) The sexes of G. pectinopterum can not be distinguished externally at any phase of maturity.
(2) Numerous lobules arise from the centrally situated spermatic duct and radiate individually on all sides of the testes. The two sperm ducts are free in the anterior part of the testes and join posteriorly to open out by a common aperture.
(3) The entire testis produces sperms and its posterior part is not sterile.
(4) Cyclic changes in the testes have been described. The spermatogenesis commences in the month of January and progresses slowly during the following months reaching its peak in June and July. It then slows down and ceases by the end of October and November. The testes enter a period of rest during November and December.
(5) The interstitial and the lobule boundary cells are present in the testes but secretory activity or cyclic changes have not been observed in them.

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Sisor rabdophorus has a very restricted distribution, being confined to a few tributaries of the main rivers af North India and Pakistan.
The fish feeds on such soft bodied animals as dipteran larvae, mainly Chironomus, a few oligochaetes and occasional algal filaments.
The alimentary canal of Sisor is small. The buccal cavity has no teeth in the adult although small premaxillary teeth are present in the young fish.
The pancreas are diffused. The gall bladder is embedded within the pancreatic tissue.
The pH in the different parts of the alimentary canal and the glands is nearer neutrality while in the stomach, it is weakly acid. The acidity of the stomach increases immediately after feeding while it decreases on starvation.
Studies on the qualitative estimation of enzymes show that most of the carbohydrases are present in the liver and pancreatic extracts. The proteases and lipase are specially very active. A few enzymes are also present in the extracts of stomach and intestine.
These investigations show that the enzymes secreted are well suited to digest the kind of food, the fish takes.

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Repeated experimental deep-water line fishing in Sagami Bay in the first half of 1966** and frequent visits to several fishing villages on the coasts of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay since 1964 have resulted in the procurement and find of the following boreal fishes: Anoplopoma fimbria (PALLAS), Pleurogrammus azonus JORDAN&METz and Reinhardtius hippoglossoides (WALBAUM). The first-named species is recorded here for the first time in the southern piscifaunal area of Japan. The occurence of the second-named species in Suruga Bay is an interesting addition to the knowledge of the fauna of this bay. Three specimens of the last-named species caught in the first half of 1966 in Sagami Bay remind the writer of the coldwater year of 1963. The present writer expresses here his sincere thanks to the crew of the “Sakafuji-maru”of Odawara City for their tireless cooperation, and Mr. Kiichi MORI, Director, and Mr. Kei-ichi ONISHI of the Ito Branch, Shizuoka Prefectural Fisheries Experiment Station, Ito City, for their kindness and generosity in permitting the writer to report upon a specimen of the Greenland halibut and another fine specimen of Pleurogrammus azonus caught in Sagami Bay in 1966 and 1963, respectively. Acknowledgement is made here of the partial financial support of this study through a grant from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science as part of the Japan U. S. Cooperative Science Program.

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