156 



The Apodes, or Eel-like Fishes 



wanting, as in all true eels, and the maxillaries loosely joined 

 to the skull. The symplectic bone is wanting, and the lower jaw 

 is so hinged to the skull that it swings freely in various direc- 

 tions. In place of the lateral line are singular appendages. 



FIG. 116. Derichthys serpentinus Gill. Gulf Stream. 



Dr. Gill says of these fishes : " The entire organization is peculiar 

 to the extent of anomaly, and our old conceptions of the char- 

 acteristics of a fish require to be modified in the light of our 

 knowledge of such strange beings." Special features are the 

 extraordinary size of the mouth, which has a cavity larger than 

 that of the rest of the body, the insertion of the very small 

 eye at the tip of the snout, and the relative length of the tail. 

 The whole substance is excessively fragile as usual with animals 

 living in great depths and the color is jet black. Three species 



Fio. 117. Gulper-eel, Gastrostomus bairdi Gill & Ryder. Gulf Stream. 



have been described, and these have been placed in two families, 

 Saccopharyngida, with the trunk (gill-opening to the vent) much 

 longer than the head, and Eurypharyngida, with the trunk very 

 short, much shorter than the head. The best-known species 

 is the pelican eel (Eury pharynx pelacanoides} , of the coast of 

 Morocco, described by Vaillant in 1882. Gastrostomus bairdi, 

 very much like it, occurs in the great depths under the Gulf 

 Stream. So fragile and so easily distorted are these fishes that 



