790 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



eyes, which are lateral and rather large; greatest depth of body some- 

 what more than length of head; neck much arched. Dorsal inserted 

 just behind head: pectoral extending beyond vent. Bead 4. D. 50; A. 

 15; P. 37. Balliirs Bay. ((.iiinthi'r.) 

 (Ophidium parrii Ross, Parry's Third Voyage, App. 109; GUutlier, iv, 326.) 



FAMILY CXVL CONGROGADID,. 



Body elongate, compressed, eel-shaped, naked or covered with small 

 scales. Mouth moderate, horizontal, the lower jaw the longer; teeth in 

 a single series in the jaws and sometimes on voiner and palatines also: 

 no barbels. Branchiostegals 4 to 7 ; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth ; 

 pseudobrauchio? present, Gill-membranes more or less connected, free 

 from the isthmus. Dorsal tin long and low, of slender rays imbedded 

 in the skin; anal similar to dorsal, both connected to the caudal fin; 

 tail diphy cereal. Pectoral fins small; ventral fins wanting. Vent re- 

 mote from the head, without papilla. Air-bladder none; pyloric : cu-ca 

 none. Small fishes, .chiefly of the East Indies. Genera 3; species 4. 



(Ojihidiiilii', group Congrogadinn Giinthe.r, iv, 388, 389.) 

 a. Canines present; dorsal beginning near the middle of the body. . .SCYTALIXA, 431. 



431. SCYTALINA Jordan & Gilbert. 

 (.For. & Gilb. IVor. K. $. Nar. Mus. 1880, 2<5I>: l.vpe. Sci/lalina crnltilr .f. & G.) 



Body very long and slender, covered with small scales. Head de- 

 pressed, shaped like the head of a snake, with tumid cheeks and a dis- 

 tinct neck. Eyes small, superior. Mouth rather large, the lower jaw 

 slightly projecting. Teeth conic, in single series on jaws, voiner, and 

 palatines. Kach jaw with two canines in front. No lateral line; pseu- 

 dobraneliia* small, (rill-rakers almost obsolete. Dorsal lin very low. 

 its first lay near the middle of the body. Anal fin similar to dorsal, 

 nearl\ as long. Tail diphycercal, the caudal well developed. (Diminu- 

 tive of Hcyfttlr, from n-/.n-<u.-i n a viper.) 



B2I7. S. roBMluDc .1. A C. 



Flesh-colored, with much mottling of purplish in line pattern; belly 

 nearly plain; caudal reddish-edged. Head broader than body; snout 

 depressed, rounded at tip: cheeks very long: opercle short; interor- 

 lital space rather broad, concave posieriorly: eyes small, anterior and 

 superior: upper lip separated by a crease from the skin of the fore- 

 head; lower jaw projecting; edge of lower lip with poms, and small 

 dermal Maps and fringes; maxillary extending a little beyond eye; 

 nostrils with small Haps. Lower jaw with a series of close-set, even, 



