362 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



114.— CONGER* Cuvier. 

 Conger Eels. 



(Cuvier, Regue Auim. II, 1817: type Mtirwna conger Linn, etc.) 



Body formed as in Anguilla, the skin scaleless. Head depressed 

 above, anteriorly pointed. Lateral line present. Mouth wide, its cleft 

 extending at least to below the middle of the eye. Teeth in the outer 

 series in each jaw equal and close-set, forming a cutting-edge. No 

 canines. Band of vomerine teeth short. Tongue anteriorly free. Ver- 

 tical fins well developed, confluent around the tail ; pectoral fins well 

 developed; dorsal beginning close behind pectorals. Gill-openings 

 rather large, low. Eyes well developed. Posterior nostril near eye; 

 anterior near the tip of the snout, with a short tube. Lower jaw not 

 projecting. Skeleton different in numerous respects from that of An- 

 guilla. Yertebroe about 50 -f 100. In most warm seas. 



The name Leptocephalus was first given to a peculiar band-shaped, 

 pellucid, worm-like animal, the type of a considerable group of fishes, 

 the LejjtoceplialidcB or Relmiehthyidcv, which has been made to constitute 

 a distinct order, Lemniscati. It has, however, been satisfactorily shown 

 by Carus, Gill, Giinther, and others, that these singular forms are not 

 distinct species, but are early stages in the development of other fishes, 

 Leptocephalus morrisii, of Conger niger, and the others of various An- 

 guilloid, Stomiatoid, and Clupeoid forms. (See Giinther, viii, 13G.) It 

 is thought by Dr. Giinther that the Leptocephalid forms are probably 

 " individuals arrested in the development at a very early period of their 

 life, yet continuing to grow to a certain size, without corresponding 

 development of their internal organs, and perishing without having at- 

 tained the characters of the perfect animal." {xoyrP'^'j Conger, the an- 

 cient name of the Conger Eel.) 



58§. C mger (Risso) J. & G. — Conger Eel. 



Dark brown above, lower parts soiled white ; dorsal and anal pale, 

 with a blacV margin (sometimes uniform black); pectorals dusky, edged 

 with paler; pores of lateral line whitish. Dorsal inserted over the pos- 

 terior margin of the pectoral, or slightly behind it ; pectoral one-third 



*The prior name Leptocephalus (Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i, 1150, 1788: type Leptocephalus 

 mo7-risi Gmel., an arrested larval form of Conger) should, in strictness, supersede Con- 

 ger. The use of the term for the adult normal fish would, however, lead to confusion, 

 as Leptocephalus has for nearly a hundred years been applied to various singular 

 organisms, lately shown to be undeveloped forms of eels and of certain IsospondijU. 



