344 



Okder of Apodal Soft-finned Fishes. 

 Malacopterygii Apoda.* 



All the fishes belonging to this Order have an 

 elongated form, a thick, soft, and but slightly scaly 

 skin : their chief characteristic, however, is their want 

 of ventral fins. They form a single family, 



The Anguilliformes,t which includes the Eels, 

 Gymnotus, &c. All these fishes have the operculum 

 very small, and opening far back by a hole or sort of 

 tube, an arrangement enabling them to live for some 

 time out of the water. 



The Eels {Anguilla) are characterized by having the openings of 

 the gills placed beneath the pectoral fins. They are too well known to 

 require minute description. Eels are very voracious, and extremely 



FlU. 276.— SHARP-NOSEO EEL. 



agile. They swim equally well backward or forward, and their skin 

 is so slippery that it is dirticult to hold them. During a great part 

 of tlieir life they inhabit fresh water, and frequent ponds and lakes 



* a, a, loitliout ; vdvs, ttoSos, pons, podos, feet. 

 t Eel-shaped. 



