The viper-fishes (_Chauliodontidæ_) are very feeble and very voracious little fishes occasionally brought up from the depths. _Chauliodus sloanei_ is notable for the length of the fangs. Much smaller and feebler are the species of the closely related family of _Gonostomidæ_. _Gonostoma_ and _Cyclothone_ dwell in oceanic abysses. One species, _Cyclothone elongata_, occurs at the depth of from half a mile to nearly four miles almost everywhere throughout the oceans. It is probably the most widely distributed, as well as one of the feeblest and most fragile, of all bassalian or deep-sea fishes. [Illustration: FIG. 88.—_Chauliodus sloanei_ Schneider. Grand Banks. ] =Suborder Iniomi, the Lantern-fishes.=—The suborder _Iniomi_ (ἰνίον, nape; ὤμος, shoulder) comprises soft-rayed fishes, in which the shoulder-girdle has more or less lost its completeness of structure as part of the degradation consequent on life in the abysses of the sea. These features distinguish these forms from the true _Isospondyli_, but only in a very few of the species have these characters been verified by actual examination of the skeleton. The mesocoracoid arch is wanting or atrophied in all of the species examined, and the orbitosphenoid is lacking, so far as known. The group thus agrees in most technical characters with the _Haplomi_, in which group they are placed by Dr. Boulenger. On the other hand the relationships to the _Isospondyli_ are very close, and the _Iniomi_ have many traits suggesting degenerate _Isospondyli_. The post-temporal has lost its usual hold on the skull and may touch the occiput on the sides of the cranium. Nearly all the species are soft in body, black or silvery over black in color, and all that live in the deep sea are provided with luminous spots or glands giving light in the abysmal depths. These spots are wanting in the few shore species, as also in those which approach most nearly to the _Salmonidæ_, these being presumably the most primitive of the group. In these also the post-temporal touches the back of the cranium near the side. In the majority of the _Iniomi_ the adipose fin of the _Salmonidæ_ is retained. From the phosphorescent spots is derived the general name of lantern-fishes applied of late years to many of the species. Most of these are of recent discovery, results of the remarkable work in deep-sea dredging begun by the _Albatross_ and the _Challenger_. All of the species are carnivorous, and some, in spite of their feeble muscles, are exceedingly voracious, the mouth being armed with veritable daggers and spears. =Aulopidæ.=—Most primitive of the _Iniomi_ is the family of _Aulopidæ_, having an adipose fin, a normal maxillary, and no luminous spots. The rough firm scales suggest those of the berycoid fishes. The few species of _Aulopus_ and _Chlorophthalmus_ are found in moderate depths. _Aulopus purpurissatus_ is the "Sergeant Baker" of the Australian fishermen. [Illustration: