Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 377 



twice the diameter of the eye; cleft of mouth 3 in head; head 4 in trunk; 

 head and trunk If in tail; dorsal beginning at a point slightly nearer the 

 base of pectorals than eye; pectorals very small, their bases as broad as 

 gill opening. Body extremely elongate, the diameter about i length of 

 head. West Indies, occasionally northward to Florida Keys, (acumina- 

 tus, sharp.) 



Miincnn artnnitmta,* GaoNOW, Fishes Brit. Mus., 21, 1854, Insula Div. Eustachii. 



ulatus, KAXJP, Apodes, 21, fig. 10, 1856, Martinique. 

 Zoiiytu, POET, Repertorio, n, 254, 1867, Cuba. 

 Opliiclitlnjs plmvarius, POEY, Anal. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat., 196, 1875, Cuba. 

 OjiMcldltys acnminatus, GUNTHER, Cat., vm, 83, 1870. 

 PisoilonophiR Imym, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 899, 1883. 

 Oiiliimrits (u-uminatus, JORDAN, Cat. Fish N. A., 53,1885. 

 Myrichlhys acuminatus, JORDAN & DAVIS, I. c., 619. 



179. PISOODONOPHIS,tKaup. 



Pisoodoiwphis, KAUP, Apodal Fishes, 17, 1856, (boro) ; Pisodontophis, amended spelling. 



Small eels, mostly of the Old World, having the blunt teeth of Myrichthys 

 and the backward dorsal of Ophichihus. Species slender, plainly colored. 

 (niaov, pea; ddovc, tooth; 60ff, snake.) 



618. PISOODONOPHIS CRUENTIFER, Goode & Bean. 



Head 4 times in trunk ; length of body about two-thirds that of tail. 

 Cleft of* the mouth rather wide, one-third head. Snout conical, 

 depressed. Head snake-like, with powerful muscular enlargements of 

 the cheeks and a constriction behind the head somewhat like that of 

 Derichtkys. Eye moderate, half snout, one-tenth head. Teeth granular, 

 in conspicuous bands, a small oblong patch on premaxillaries and a long 

 band on vomer. Pectoral fin broad, spatulate, about two-sevenths head. 

 Dorsal beginning far behind tip of pectoral, its distance from tip of 

 snout one-seventh of total length. Dorsal and anal fins of moderate 

 height. Color uniform brownish yellow. Length 16 inches. Two speci- 

 mens (28938), station 1035 of the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Fish 

 Hawk, in N. lat. 39 57' W., long. 69 28', in 120 fathoms. Four others at 

 nearly same region in 245 fathoms. 



" The peculiar and savage physiognomy of this fish suggests at once the 

 idea that it is a parasitic boring form, and in confirmation of this we 

 have specimens taken by the fishermen on Jeffrey's Bank, and also 

 another from New Bedford, taken by Mr. J. H. Thompson from the body 

 of a fish. We have occasionally taken the dried and shriveled remains of 

 a fish apparently closely related to this from salted halibut and codfish." 

 (Goode & Bean.) 



* We have referred the nominal species, longm, guttitlntns, and pitavarius to the synonymy of 

 arumiuatus, thinking that the alleged differences are matters of individual variation. LottffiU is 

 said to have, in the center of each pale spot, a yellow speck, surrounded by a dark circle. The 

 others are said to lack this central spot, but it may be that it fades in alcohol. Longtis is said to 

 have the edge ot the dorsal darker than the fin. In guttulatus andjrfMMrfcu it is said to be paler. 



fDr. Giinther, (vin, 78), mentions a half-grown eel from Grenada in the West Indies, which 

 he was unable to separate from PboodoNOp&u boro (Hamilton), of the East Indies and China. It 

 is possible, however, that this specimen really came from China. In P. boro the head is 4 times 

 in the very long trunk ; the fins are very low and the color is plain brown. 



