NO. 1239. APODAL FISHES OF JAPAN-JORDAN AND SNYDER. 877 



24. APHTHALMICHTHYS Kaup. 

 AphthalinicJithi/.'^ Kaup, Apode^^, 1856, p. 105 (j<mmicus). 

 This genus differs from Jlorhif/wi in the little development of the 

 tins. The pectorals are wanting or very nearly so, and the dorsal and 

 anal form low ridges developed as tin only at the end of the tail. Eye 

 very small; lower jaw proieeting. («". privative; o<f>fta\f.io5. eye; 

 Q'^yg, fish.) 

 „. Body modemtelv nlen.ler, tl.e depth 3 to 4 in head, 40 to 45 in entire length. 



abhrevintus. 39. 



aa. Body excen^^ively slender, the deptii 3^ to 4 in head, 75 to 100 in entire length. 



Java I'll cus. 40. 



39. APHTHALMICHTHYS ABBREVIATUS Bleeker. 



{phthabnichthy.<< ubbrerkUus Bleeker, Ned. Tyds. Dierks. I, about 1860, p. 163, 

 Java, etc.; Atlas Ichth. Muraen., 1864, p. 17, ph i, tig. 1, Java, Batii, Cele- 

 bes, Ternate, Amboyna, Timor. 

 Moringiui abbreviata GIjxther, Cat. Fish., VIII, 1870, p. 92. 

 Head T in tniidv, Hi in total; tail 3| in total length; depth of body 

 li in head, al)out 45 in total length; cleft of mouth 5 in head; dorsal 

 fin beginning three heads' lengths from tip of tail; the anal a little 

 farther forward; fin rays on tip of tail as long as eye and snout. Pec- 

 toral visible, but scarcely larger than eye. Color light brown. 



East Indies, generally conunon, here described from a specimen Hi 

 inches long, taken by Capt. Alan Owston at Yaeyama, in the southern 

 Riukiu Islands. It agrees in the main with Bleeker's figure, but has 

 rather better developed fins. {AhhreviaUi.% shortened.) 



40. APHTHALMICHTHYS JAVANICUS Kaup. 



[phthalmlrhtln/.^ jarauinis Kaup, Apodes, 1856, p. 105, Java.— Bleekek, Xed. 



Tydsskr. Dierk., I, p. 164; Atlas Ichth. Munen., 1864, p. 16, pi. ii, tig. 2. 



Java, Celebes, Cerani, Timor. 

 3/oWH^uajamnicaGtJXTHER, Cat. Fish., YIII, 1870, p. 92, :\Ioluccas, Fiji, Japan. 



Depth of body 75 to 100 times in length; head 15 to '2'2 times in 

 l)ody; vertical fins reduced to a fringe at end of tail. No pectorals, 

 lirownish. paler below. (Bleeker.) 



East Indies, recorded by Giinther from Japan, doubtless the Riu- 

 kiu Islands. Size larger than in A. ahh-evUitm, the body nuich more 



slender. _ ^^^ ^^ 



Family X. MUR^NID.E. 



MORAYS. 



The Munenldm represent the most degenerate type of eels so far as 

 the skeleton is concerned, and they are doubtless the farthest removed 

 from the more typical fishes from which the eels have descended. The 

 essential characters of the family are thus stated by Dr. Gill: 



Colocephalous Apodals witli conic head, fully developed operi'ular apparatus, long 

 and wide ethmoid, posterior maxillines, pauciserial teeth, roundish, lateral branchial 



