700 COXTRIBUTIOXS TO XORTII AMEEICAX ICHTHYOLOGY — IV. 
(\ves, wliicli are lateral and rattier large; greatest depth of body some- 
what more than length of head; neck nineh arched. Dorsal inserted 
just behind head; pectoral extending beyond vent. Head 4. D. oO; A. 
45; P. 37. P>affin’s Bay. {Giinther.) 
(Ophidium parrii Ross, Parry’s Third Voy.age, App. 109; Giinther, iv, 3’26.) 
Family CXVI.— CONGKOGADID.E. 
Body elongate, compressed, eel-shaped, naked or covered with small 
scales. Mouth moderate, horizontal, the lower Jaw the longer; teeth in 
a single series in the jaws and sometimes on vomer and palatines also; 
no barbels. Branchiostegals 4 to 7 ; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth ; 
pseudobranchiic present. Gill-membranes more or less connected, free 
from the isthmus. Dorsal tin long and low, of slender rays imbedded 
in the skin; anal similar to dorsal, both connected to the caudal lin; 
tail diphycercal. l^ectoral fins small; ventral tins wanting. Vent re- 
mote from the head, without papilla. Air-bladder none; pylori(; cceca 
none. Small fishes, chiefly of the East Indies. Genera 3; species 4. 
{Ophidiida’., group Congrogadina Giinther, iv, 388, 389.) 
a. Caiiiues present; dorsal heginuiag near the middle of the body. ..Scytalina, 431. 
431.— SCYTAIAIVA Jordan & Gilbert. 
{.lor. & Gill). Proc. U. S. Xat. Mas. 1880, 266: type Scytalina cerdale J. & G. ) 
Body very long and slender, covered with small scales. Head de- 
pressed, shaped like the head of a snake, with tumid cheeks and a dis- 
tinct neck. Eyes small, suiierior. Mouth rather large, the lower jaw 
slightly itrojecting. Teeth conic, in single series on jaws, vomer, and 
I>alatines. Each javv with two canines in front. No lateral line; pseu- 
dobranchije small. Gill-rakers almost obsolete. Dorsal fin very low, 
its first ray near the middle of the body. Anal fin similar to dorsal, 
nearlj’ as long. Tail diithycercal, the caudal well developed. (Diminu- 
tive of Scytale, from axora/.r^^ a viper.) 
1217. S. cerdalle J. A G. 
Elesh-colored, with much mottling of purplish inline pattern; belly 
nearly plain; caudal reddish-edged. Head broader than body; snout 
depressed, rounded at tij); cheeks very long; opercle short; interor- 
bital s])ace rather broad, concave posteriorly; eyes small, anterior and 
superior; up])er lip separated by a crease from the skin of the fore- 
head; lower jaw i)rojecting; edge of lower lip with pores, and small 
dermal Haps and fringes; maxillar}’ extending a little beyond eye; 
nostrils with small Haps. Lower jaw with a series of close-set, even. 
