Ig4 The Philippine Journal of Science 1923 



the first three much larger than any of the other teeth, the 

 last one very small. 



A small, heavy-bodied insignificant eel with weak, narrow, 

 sharp-pointed jaws and rounded tail that tapers to a sharp 

 point likewise. Ground color pale to whitish, apparently m life 

 clear light yellow; dorsal region dark olivaceous brown, made 

 so by the coalescence of innumerable dots which extend down the 

 sides below the conspicuous lateral line and over lower jaw. 



Here described from the type and only specimen, collected in 

 January, 1922, in Cabatoan River near Iba, Zambales, by Mr. 

 H. R. Montalban. It is close to Cszcula mindora of Jordan and 

 Richardson, and to Csecula macrodon (Bleeker) , but differs from 

 them both in bodily proportions and dentition. 



Its dimensions are as follows: Length, 164 millimeters; depth, 

 9; head, 18.5; trunk, 55.5; tail, 90; eye, 1.25; gape, 6. 



I take pleasure in naming this species for Mr. E. H. Taylor, 

 student of Philippine reptiles and amphibia. 



MORINGUIDJE 



Body slender and more or less cylindrical, tail much shorter 

 than rest of body. Pectorals small, vestigial, or altogether lack- 

 ing; dorsal and anal fins small and low, confined to tail, and 

 often reduced to a small fin around tip of tail. Head small, 

 usually depressed, with posterior nostrils in front of eyes, which 

 are small and usually covered with skin; mouth small, weak, 

 with small, uniserial teeth, lower jaw projecting; gill openings 

 usually narrow, inferior ; heart located far behind gills. 



Small eels of the tropical seas of both hemispheres, the genera 

 closely related and the species often difficult to distinguish. The 

 family is easily recognized by its remarkably wormlike appear- 

 ance, in connection with its weak head, elongated trunk, and 

 very short tail. 



This small group of peculiar eels is probably related most 

 nearly to the morays, but its relationships are not certain. 



Key to Philippine genera of the Moringuidx. 

 a\ Dorsal and anal higher and with visible rays anteriorly and posteriorly; 



lower, or a mere fold of skin in the middle Moringua. 



a*. Vertical fins reduced to a low fold and developed only at tip of tail. 



Aphthalmichthys. 



