The Apodes, or Eel-like Fishes 153 



In many of the morays the jaws are so curved and the 

 mouth so filled with knife-like teeth that the jaws cannot be 

 closed. This fact, however, renders no assistance to their prey, 

 as the teeth are adapted for holding as well as for cutting. 



In Enchelynassa bleekeri, a huge wine-colored eel of the South 

 Seas, the teeth are larger than in any other species. Evenchelys 



FIG. 112. Muroena ret if era Carman. Charleston, S. C. 



(macrurus) is remarkable for its extraordinary length of tail, 

 Echidna for its blunt teeth, and Scuticaria, Uropterygius, and 

 Channomurcena for the almost complete absence of fins. In 

 Anarchias (allardicei; knighti), the anal fin is absent. The flesh 

 of the morays is rather agreeable in taste, but usually oily and 

 not readily digestible, less wholesome than that of the true eels. 



The Myrocongrida; are small morays with developed pectoral 

 fins. The species are few and little known. 



Family Moringuidae. Structurally one of the most peculiar 

 of the groups of eels is the small family of Moringuida of the 

 East and West Indies. In these very slender, almost worm- 

 like fishes the heart is placed very far behind the gills and 

 the tail is very short. The fins are very little developed, and 

 some forms, as Gordiichthys irretitus of the Gulf of Mexico, the 

 body as slender as a whiplash, possess a very great number of 

 vertebra. Moringua hawaiiensis occurs in Hawaii, M. edwardsi 

 in the Bahamas. This family probably belongs with the morays 

 to the group of Colocephali, although its real relationships are 

 not wholly certain. 



Order Carencheli, the Long-necked Eels. Certain offshoots from 

 the Apodes so widely diverging in structure that they must 

 apparently be considered as distinct orders occur sparingly 

 in the deep seas. One of these, Derichthys serpentinus, the 



