[55] CATALOGUE OF THE FISHES OF NORTH AMERICA. 



180.— MUR^NESOXi McClelland 

 €35. Muraenesoz couiceps .loidau & Gilbert. P. 



181.— CONGER- Cnvior, (174) 

 €36. Conger conger Linna-us. N. S. W. Eii. P. (588) 

 €37. Conger caudicula Bean. W. (588 6.) 



Family LX.— ANGUILLID^. 



182.— ANGUILLA^ Thunberg. (173) 

 €38. Anguilla anguiUa rostrata De Kaj-. V. N. S. W. (587) 



vomer with bands of cardiforra teeth, those along the median line of the vomer being 

 somewhat the larger. Vertical fins well developed, the dorsal commencing behind 

 gill opening ; no pectorals. Gill openings moderate. Nostrils on upper surface of 

 head, valvular, the anterior near end of snout, the posterior above anterior angle of 

 eye. Air bladder present. (ZVerra, duck; fro//«, mouth.) 



Nettastoma procerum Goode & Bean. 



Body extremely elongate, compressed, especially so posteriorly, the tail tapering to a 

 very attenuate point. Head slender, conical, the jaws somewhat depressed, the upper 

 heavier and thicker, projecting beyond the lower a distance equal to the diameter of 

 the eye. Numerous pores on both jaws and on the nape. Snout with a slender fila- 

 mentous tip, twice as long as the eye. Teeth arranged as in N. melanurum, but excess- 

 ively small. Dorsal commencing above gill opening. Insertion of anal at a distance 

 from snout equal to 3§ times length of head. Tail twice as long as head and body. 

 Lateral line well developed, in a deep furrow. Height of dorsal and anal about half 

 depth of body, brownish ; peritoneum black. (Gulf Stream, in deep water, at aibout 

 lat. :J4o. {Goode 4- Bean.) 



(Goode Sc Bean, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 188^* 224.) 



> MuR^XESOX McClelland. 

 {Cynoponticus Costa.) 



Form of Conger : Body scaleless ; snout long; posterior nostrils opposite upper part 

 of eye ; tongue not free ; jaws with several series of small, close-set teeth, with ca- 

 nines in front ; vomer with several series of strong teeth, those of the median series 

 enlarged and usually compressed ; gill openings wide; pectorals well developed ; dorsal 

 beginning above the gill opening, continuous with the anal around the tail. Large 

 eels of the tropical seas. 



Mnnenesox coniceps Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, 348. Mazatlan 

 to Panama. 



-The name Conger should probably be retained for this genus. It does not appear 

 to be entirely certain that Leptocephalits morrisi is a larval Conger. Echelus Rafinesque 

 (1810) is based in part on Congers, but most of the numerous typical species remain 

 unidentified. 



3 Mr. S. E. Meek (Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1883, 430), after a careful comparison of 

 American and European eels, concludes that "in American specimens the dorsal fin is 

 proportionately farther from the end of snout, making the distance between front of 

 dorsal and front of anal a little shorter than in European specimens. Otherwise no 

 permanent difl'erence seems to exist. We should not, therefore, in my opinion, con- 

 sider the two as distinct species, but rather as geographical varieties of the same 

 species." 



In A. rostrata, according to Mr. Meek, the distance from tip of snout to front of 

 dorsal is, on an average, .33^ of the length : the distance from front of dorsal to front 

 of anal, .09f, or less than length of head (.12^). 



In the European Anguilla anguilla the first distance is .30^^, the second, .13f, or a 

 little more than length of head (.13i). Cuban specimens {Anguilla cubana Kaup) 

 agree fully with A. rostrata, as also Texan ones (Anguilla "tyrannus" or " texana"). 



Probably our eel should be regarded as a subspecies (rostrata) of A. anguilla. 



