84 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



only about half way to the forward edge of the eye, with upper and lower jaws of 

 equal length and each armed with a single series of small, close-set cutting teeth. 

 The gill openings are very small, and instead of being transverse and on the sides 

 of the neck as in the common eel they are longitudinal and lower down on the surface 

 of the throat. 



Size. — About 2 feet long. 



Color. — Dark brown, with belly but little paler than back, though usually more 

 or less silvery. 



General range. — The continental slope and slopes of the offshore banks, from 

 abreast of the eastern end of Long Island to the Newfoundland Banks, in depths 

 ranging from 200 to more than 900 fathoms; also in deep water about the Azores. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — So far as we can learn there is no definite 

 record of the snub-nosed eel actually within the southern rim of the Gulf. Our 

 only first-hand experience with it was on the slope south of Nantucket lightship 

 in July, 1908, where we captured 21 in the Monaco deep-sea trap in 455 fathoms. 

 It must be extremely abundant along that zone, however, for so many to find their 

 way into the trap in as short a set as two hours. It has been recorded so often in 

 water as shoal as 200 fathoms that it may be expected in the bottom of the Eastern 

 Channel and in the southeastern deeps of the Gulf of Maine. 



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— -mmettSH. 



,,.,„ -■..»s««v-=;'r*s3J3,j: 



. Si 



Fig. 35. — Long-nosed eel (Synaphobranchus pinnatus) 



Habits. — -It is partly parasitic in habit, burrowing into the bodies of halibut 

 and other large fish, under which circumstances a considerable number of specimens 

 have been brought in by fishermen. Very likely it was common inshore in old days 

 when halibut were plentiful there. It also lives independently on the bottom. 

 Beyond this little is known of its manner of life and nothing of its breeding habits. 

 We may add from experience that it is as slimy as a hag — dripping with sheets of 

 mucus when drawn out of the water. 



34. Long-nosed eel {Synaphobranchus pinnatus Gronow) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 351. 



Description. — This deep-sea species is a typical eel in general appearance but 

 is readily identifiable by the facts that while its dorsal fin originates about as far 

 back, in relation to the length of the fish, as in the common eel (p. 78) , its point of 

 origin is behind the vent instead of in front of it, and that the anal fin originates 

 considerably in front of the dorsal fin instead of behind it, as is the case in all other 

 Gidf of Maine eels. Furthermore, its mouth is much wider, gaping far back of the 

 eye, and its snout is pointed. The most interesting anatomic characteristic of this 



