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UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



Fig. 96. The snakefish, Trachinocephalus, 10 inches long, is usually seen motion- 

 less over sand or dead coral waiting to dart at some small fish or crustacean. 



snakefish: Trachinocefhalus myops— Figure 96 



Size: Up to almost 1 foot in length. 



Distribution: West Indies north to South Carolina and south to Brazil. 



Identification: The body is heavy and almost perfectly round in cross section. 



Habits: This fish remains motionless even on close approach by swimmers. 

 It is not readily frightened, and observation of it is easy, though its coloration 

 and lack of movement make it difficult to spot. 



Similar S'pecies: The lizard fish, Synodus foetens, is olive-colored with yellow 

 vermiculations, or wavy outlines, on the back and sides, and is found from Cape 

 Cod to Brazil. 



The California lizard fish, Synodus luciocefs, is similar to Atlantic members 

 of this genus. It is olive-brown with a golden luster and slaty reticulations, or 

 netlike patterns, on the back and sides. It is found from San Francisco to 

 San Diego. Both of these fishes are much slimmer than the snakefish but have 

 similar predatory habits. 



The Eels: Order A pedes ("without feet") 



The eellike shape is repeated in several groups of fishes. Electric eels and 

 eelpouts, both superficially like eels in appearance, are not true eels. The parallel 

 development in these groups of the eellike shape is an adaption to a common 

 mode of life, a life in holes and crevasses. The true eels are all rather degenerate 

 in that there is a marked tendency toward loss of the fins and scales. The ventral 

 fins are always missing, and the pectorals are sometimes also lacking. This forces 

 them to swim like a snake with sinuous lateral body movements. Some have 

 even lost the vertical fins and, hence, cannot swim but must slither about on 

 the bottom. The operculum is also lost, and the gill opening is small, resembling 

 a pore. In spite of all this, eels are active, voracious carnivores with dangerous 

 teeth and unreliable tempers. Most, if not all, are chiefly nocturnal. Eels form 



