[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

Head depressed, the eye large, and the snout remarkably short; trunk slender, subcircular in section anteriorly but slightly compressed posteriorly. Height of trunk at origin of pectorals about 1/9th of its length to origin of caudal. Length of body measured to cloaca 63.5% to 65.8% of the total length. Caudal peduncle without lateral keels or precaudal pits.

Dermal denticles on sides of trunk of moderate size, and loosely spaced so that there are considerable interspaces between them where the skin is exposed. Each denticle has a low,

Text-fig. 7.—Dalatias licha, male 1,132 mm (Dom. Mus. No. 1295) from New Zealand. Fig. A—Group of dermal denticles from high on side at level of 1st dorsal. Fig. B—Lateral view of denticle.

near-horizontal, thornlike blade expanded laterally at its anterior end, and united along the greater part of its undersurface with a rhomboidal base so that a pedicle as such is scarcely differentiated. The external surface of each blade carries three longitudinal ridges which converge posteriorly and meet at the tip of the sharply-pointed median tooth. Anteriorly the margins of the blade fall away steeply towards the base in a series of sharp-edged irregular facets. Denticles from the caudal axis similar to those from the trunk but with more elongate blades; those from the interorbital region have stronger sculpture and more obtusely pointed blades; those from the lower lip stand more erect and are more nearly ovoid than thornlike; while those from the upper lip are ovoid to leaf-shaped and lack ridges except at their anterior ends.

Head measured to 1st gill-opening 7.1 to 6.9 in the total length. Profile of head only slightly tapered to the thick foreshortened snout. The least fleshy interorbital distance 2.7 in the head Snout contour bluntly rounded at the snout tip, widening rapidly at the level of the nostrils, and slowly from there rearwards. Length of snout measured to the eye 5.4 to 4.6 in the head. Eye large, longer than high, its length 1.7 to 1.9 in the preoral length, the latter 3.1 in the head. Spiracle large, transverse, placed just above the eye and behind it by a distance equal to twice its own length. Gill-openings almost vertical, slightly concave, and in a horizontal series anterior to the pectoral base. Lengths of the first four gill-openings subequal and less than the horizontal diameter of the eye; the 5th gill-opening equal in length to the eye. Interspaces between the gill-openings about the same except for that between the 4th and 5th, which is only half that of the others. Nostrils oblique and placed very close to tip of snout. Interspace between nostrils about equal to length of snout measured to eye. Each nostril subdivided into a circular anterolateral aperture and an elongate ovoid posteromedial aperture by the anterior and posterior nasal flaps. The anterior nasal flap broadly triangular, with a bluntly pointed apex and a smoothly rounded medial margin. The posterior nasal flap fleshy and internal to the anterior flap. Mouth only slightly arched, its corners concealed by the smoothly curved, overhanging upper lip which extends posterolaterally on each side as far back as the level of the spiracle. Width of mouth just less than the preoral distance. Preoral clefts not visible externally when the mouth is closed, but opening on the inner face of the upper lip. Internal to the upper lip is a prominent fimbriated layer lying against the upper teeth; no such layer is present on the lower lip.

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

Teeth 9-1-9/9-1-9 in a 1,010 mm male, dissimilar in the two jaws. The upper teeth elongate, each with a bifid base and a sharply-pointed, smooth-edged, recurved, awl-shaped cusp; those at the centre of the mouth noticeably smaller and more erect than those on either side, which are moderately oblique; three rows of upper teeth functional. The lower teeth blade-like, each with a high rectangular base and a narrow, strong triangular cusp; the cusps have uniformly serrated edges, the serrations continued downwards onto the lateral shoulder of each cusp where there is an acute notch. At the centre of the mouth there is a symmetrical median lower tooth, but on either side of it, towards the corners, the teeth have cusps which are slightly oblique. The base of each lower tooth overlaps its lateral neighbour. One or two rows of lower teeth functional.

1st dorsal of moderate size, triangular to brush-shaped, originating posterior to tip of pectoral when latter is adpressed to the side by a distance equal to the horizontal diameter of the eye. Length of base equal to the free posterior margin, and also to the height of the fin, and about equal to the preoral length. 2nd dorsal larger than the 1st, its base 25% longer, its shape generally the same except that the posterior free tip is more sharply pointed. Origin of 2nd dorsal about over middle of pelvic base. Caudal measured from the hypural origin 4.4 to 4.3 in the total length; epiural lobe with a straight anterior margin and a broadly rounded apex. Terminal margin convex, and the subterminal notch deeply incised and prominent. Origin of the hypural a little posterior to the midpoint between the rear tip of the 2nd dorsal and the epiural origin; lower anterior margin of hypural about half the length of the epiural margin, slightly convex distally. The apex smoothly rounded and about a right angle, and the posterior margin almost straight. Pectorals rather small, subovate, originating just behind 5th gill-opening. Anterior pectoral margin convex, its length twice the width of the fin and considerably less than the distance from snout tip to 1st gill-opening; posterior and distal margins smoothly continuous, the posterior angle scarcely apparent; anterior angle less than a right angle but broadly rounded. Pelvics large and triangular, their bases one-quarter longer than the 2nd dorsal base. Anterior, posterior and distal margins straight, the apex smoothly rounded, and the posterior free tip sharply pointed.

Colour: Uniform dark brown to black above and below; upper and lower lips, and the distal margins of all the fins, pale-coloured or whitish.