The Freshwater Fishes of South Africa. 



465 



SUB-ORDER APODES. 

 FAMILY ANGUILLIDvE. 



ANGUILLA. 



Shaw, Gen. Zool., iv, p. 15 (1804) ; Giinth., Cat. Fish., viii, p. 23 (1870) ; 



Bouleng., Fish. Nile, p. 401 (1907), and Cat. Preshw. Fish. Afr., 



iii, p. 3 (1915). 



" Body much elongate, serpentiforra, with minute scales imbedded 

 in the skin, arranged in small groups placed obliquely at right angles 

 to one another. Pectoral fins well developed ; dorsal and anal fins 

 very long, united at the end of the tail, the former originating at a 

 great distance from the occiput. Mouth large, with more or less 

 developed lips; jaws and palate with bands of small pointed teeth; 



a. 



FIG. 111. Dentition of upper jaw and palate in adult specimens of: 

 (a) A. mossambica ; (b) A. bengalensis ; (c) A. auslralis. The bands of 

 teeth are narrower in young 1 specimens. 



nostrils widely separated from each other, the anterior tubular and at 

 the tip of the snout, the posterior slit-like and close to the eye. Gill- 

 openings small, cresceutic, close to the base of the pectoral fius. 



Breed in the deep sea, where they undergo very marked meta- 

 morphoses (larval forms known as Leptocephalus} . In Africa, confined 

 to the rivers flowing into the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic 

 and Indian Oceans." Blgr. 



Occasional specimens, of a large size, have been reported from the 

 mouth of the Orange Eiver. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



\. Dorsal originating well in advance of vent. 

 M uuth extending beyond eye ; teeth on sides of jaw in 

 ;i (young) to 6 series, not separated by a longi- 

 tudinal groove or interspace . . . A. mossambica, Peters. 



33 



