374 The Apodes, or Eel-like Fishes 
long-necked eel, constitutes the sole known species of the sub- 
= ' , , . 
order Curenchelt («xapa, head; ‘eyyedus, eel). In this group 
the premaxillaries and maxillaries are present as in ordinary 
Fig. 2838.—Gymnothorax jordani (Evermann & Marsh). Family Murenide. 
Puerto Rico, 
fishes, but united by suture and soldered to the cranium. As 
in true eels, the shoulder-girdle is remote from the skull. The 
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Iie. 284.—Moray, Gy»mothorax moringa Bloch. Family Murenide, Tortugas. 
head is set on a snake-like neck. The single species representing 
the family Derichthyide was found in the abysmal depths of 
the Gulf Stream. 
Order Lyomeri, or Gulpers.—Still more aberrent and in many 
respects extraordinary are the eels of the order or suborder 
Lyomert (Avos, loose; jépos, part), known as ‘Gulpers.” 
These are degenerate forms, possibly degraded from some con- 
ger-like type, but characterized by an extreme looseness of 
structure unique among fishes. The gill-arches are reduced 
to five small bars of bone, not attached to the skull, the pala- 
topterygoid arch is wholly wanting, the premaxillaries are 
