Order v. Symbranchia. 



THE SYMBRANCHOID EELS. 



Body eel-shaped; premaxillary, maxillary, and palatine bones 

 well developed and distinct from each other; no paired fins; vertical 

 fins rudimentary, reduced to folds of the skin; gill openings confluent 

 in a single slit; no air bladder; vertebrae numerous, the anterior ones 

 not modified. 



Family VII. Symbrancliidre. 



THE SYMBRANCHOID EELS. 



Body eel-shaped, naked, the abdomen very long, longer than the 

 tail; snout short; eyes small, anterior; teeth small; palatine teeth in a 

 band; gill openings confluent in a narrow slit; 4 gill arches; gills 

 well developed ; gill membranes free from the isthmus ; no accessory 

 breathing sac ; shoulder girdle attached to the skull by a well-developed 

 bifurcate post-temporal. 



38. Symbraiiclms Bloch. 



Symbranchus Bloch, Ichthyologia, ix, 87; 1795. (Type, Symbranchus 



marmoratus Bloch.) 

 The description of the genus is included in that of the family. 



84. Symbranchus marmoratus Bloch. 



Symbranchus marmoratus Bloch. Ichth., ix, 87, pi. 418, 1795 ; Trop- 

 ical America: Gunther, Cat., vm, 15, 1870; Mexico; Vera Cruz: 

 Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1896, 342: B. 

 A. Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1898, 539; Santa Maria. 

 Tropical streams from Vera Cruz to the Amazon. 

 Body elongate; snout short, rounded or pointed; eyes small, rather 

 close to the end of the snout; gill opening narrow, not extending to the 

 edge of the ventral surface, generally transverse, arched, frequently 

 appearing as a longitudinal slit unless drawn out; vertebras 79 + 57 = 

 136. 



Color brownish, variously marbled, sometimes immaculate. 

 Length 3 to 5 feet. 



