1 



864 PROCEEDINGS OF THE XATTOXAL ^f^SEr^r. vol.xxiii. ' 



aa. Body witli di-stinct dorsal and anal tins. 



h. Pectoral wanting; dorsal liigh, beginning on nape Cnlln-lifh/s. 14. 



bli. Pectoi'al j)resent. j 



c. Vomerine teeth none; teeth i)ointed JAiiiminix. 15. 



cr. Vomerine teeth present. 



(/. Teeth blunt, mostly granular or molar; pectoral tins present, small. 

 ('. Dorsal rather high, inserted on the head before gill opening; anal n(jt 



nearl J' reaching tip of tail Chlevuntes. 1 6. i 



ee. Dorsal beginning behind gill opening Pixondonophis. 17. 



dd. Teeth all pointed, none of them molar; pectoral tins well developed, ■ 

 much longer than eye; gill openings usually lateral, sometimes subin->ll 

 ferior. 

 /. Snout moderate or short, less than one-fourth head, the jaws not jiro- 

 duced into a slender l)eak. 

 y. Lips not fringed with conspicuous barbels. 



/(. Teeth subequal, with no elongate canines on jaws or vomer. ; 



/. Teeth in sides of upper jaw in several series forming broad bands; i 



jaws long; lips without papilla. .■ Xyrian. 18. 



)/. Teeth in sides of upper jaw in one or two series. 1 



j. Dorsal tin inserted over gill opening or nearly so; trunk very M 



long MicrodonophiK. 19. 



jj. Dorsal tin inserted well behind base of pectoral 



Ophichthiix. 20. 



Ml Teeth uneiiual, some of them long canines, either on vomer or 



on sides of one or both jaws; mouth large, the snout slK)rt, and 



the eyes more or less superior MystriopJux. 21. 



g(j. Lips with a conspicuous fringe of barbels; canines present on jaws 



and vomer; jaws rather long, the lower projecting; head depressed; 



eyes superior; tail shorter than rest of ho(\y . .Brdcliy^^ornoplih. 22. 



ff. Snout long, the jaws prorluced in a slender beak; canine teeth strong; 



dorsal fin inserted well behind pectorals Oxystomus. 23. 



13. SPHAGEBRANCHUS Bloch. 



Sphagebranchus Block, Ichthyologia, LX, 1795, p. 88 {rodr((tus). 



Cxcilia Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., II, 1800, p. 135 {branderiana = ciecus) (not of 



Linnaeus, a genus of Batrachia). 

 Apterichthys De la Roche, Ann. Mus., XIII, 1809, p. 325 {circus). 

 Branderius Rafinesque, Analyse de la Natur, 1815, p. 93 (substitute for Cvcilia). 



Very .small eels without tins, a slight fold, apparently rayles.s, rep- 

 resenting the dorsal; snout much projecting; teeth small, mostly 

 uniserial; gill openings inferior, converging. Smallest and simplest 

 in structure of the Oph'icMhiii<la\ the species little known and scantih'^ 

 represented in collections. {a<j)aS, throat; ft pay x^^, gili^-) 



24. SPHAGEBRANCHUS MOSERI Jordan and Snyder, new species. 



Eyes well developed; head 5| in trunk: head and trunk i^ in tail; 

 snout sharj), nuich projecting, its length 5 in head; eye 2 in snout; 

 cleft of mouth 3i in head; gill slits about as long as eye, converging 

 forward; lateral line distiiict from vent backward, A very slight fold 



