Numerous species of _Beryx_ and closely allied genera are found in all rocks since Cretaceous times; _Beryx dalmaticus_, from the Cretaceous of Dalmatia, is perhaps the earliest. _Beryx insculptus_ is found in New Jersey, but no other Berycoids are yet known as fossils from North America. _Sphenocephalus_, with four anal spines, is found in the chalk, as are also species of _Acrogaster_ and _Pycnosterinx_, these being the earliest of fishes with distinctly spiny fins. [Illustration: FIG. 200.—_Hoplopteryx lewesiensis_ (Mantell), restored. English Cretaceous Family _Berycidæ_. (After Woodward.) ] The _Trachichthyidæ_ are deep-sea fishes with short bodies, cavernous skulls, and rough scales. The dorsal is short, with a few spines in front. The suborbitals are very broad, often covering the cheeks, and the anal fin is shorter than the dorsal, a character which separates these fishes from the _Berycidæ_, in which group the anal fin is very long. The belly has often a serrated edge, and the coloration is red or black, the black species being softer in body and living in deeper water. Species of _Hoplostethus_, notably _Hoplostethus mediterraneus_, are found in most seas at a considerable depth. _Trachichthys_, a genus scarcely distinguishable from _Hoplostethus_, is found in various seas. The genus _Paratrachichthys_ is remarkable for the anterior position of the vent, much as in _Aphredoderus_. Species occur in Japan and Australia. _Gephyroberyx_, with the dorsal fin notched, is known from Japan (_G. japonicus_) and Madeira (_G. darwini_). We may also refer to the _Trachichthyidæ_ certain species of still deeper waters, black in color and still softer in texture, with smaller scales which are often peculiar in form. These constitute the genera _Caulolepis_, _Anoplogaster_, _Melamphaës_, and _Plectromus_. In _Caulolepis_ the jaws are armed with very strong canines. Allied to the _Trachichthyidæ_ are also the fossil genera _Hoplopteryx_ and _Homonotus_. _Hoplopteryx lewesiensis_, from the English chalk, is one of the earliest of the spiny-rayed fishes. [Illustration: FIG. 201.—_Paratrachichthys prosthemius_ Jordan & Fowler, Misaki, Japan. Family _Trachichthyidæ_. ]