^90 The Philippine Journal of 'Science 1923 



shows lumbricoideus to have the dorsal and anal fins much better 

 developed than they are in macrocephalus. 



The following is Richardson's original description : 



lumbricoidea the gill openings 



th- !r 



posterior edge there is a minute fold, which is perhaps the vestige of a 

 pectoral fin. The head is small, conical, with a moderately acute,, but not 

 pointed, snout, projecting very slightly beyond the lower jaw. One nostril 

 opens at the inner angle of the eye, and the other near the end of the 

 snout. A series of large pores runs along the snout on each side and across 

 the nape. The throat is plaited and distensible. Teeth acute, short, 

 subulate, inclined backwards, in a single series, on both jaws and along 

 the vomerine line. The lower teeth of M. linearis are described as blunt 

 (Gray 1. c). The body is very nearly cylindrical, and retains its thick- 

 ness equably from the gill opening to some distance beyond the anus. 



The rest of the tail tapers slightly, and is a little compressed. The 

 skin is smooth and even throughout, no scales are visible, and no lateral 

 line. The dorsal and anal fins are highest at the end of the tail, where 

 they unite. The anal runs forward to the anus, gradually lowering in height 

 to a mere line. The dorsal cannot be traced so far forward. The thickness 

 of the integument prevents the fine rays of these fins from being readily 

 counted, but at the tip of the tail there are fifteen rays, a little thicker, 

 which may be considered as a caudal. The general color is pale reddish- 

 brown, gradually fading to white towards the belly, and finely sprinkled 

 with darker dots 



Tip of snout to end of tail 10.00 



Tip of snout to gill-opening 1-12 



Tip of snout to anus 6.75 



Aphthalmichthys abbreviatus Bleeker. 



Aphthalmichthys abbreviatus Bleeker, Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. 1 (1863) 

 163; Atlas Ichth. Muram. 4 (1864) 17, pi. 1, fig. 1; Jordan and 

 Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 23 (1901) 877. 

 Moringua abbreviata Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. 8 (1870) 92; 

 Jordan and Seale, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 28 (1905) 773; Jordan 

 and Richardson, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fisheries 27 (1907) (1908) 241; 

 Weber and Beaufort, Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 3 (1916) 341. 

 I refer here nineteen small wormlike eels, having a remark- 

 able resemblance to the parasitic nematodes belonging to the 

 genus Asca.is. They were collected at Dumaguete, Oriental 

 Negros, and vary in length from 125 to 195 millimeters, and in 

 depth from less than 3 to about 5 millimeters. 



Depth 35 to 47 in length; head 10 to 11.5 in length in my 

 material (to 13.3, Weber and Beaufort) and 6 to 7.5 in trunk; 

 tail 2.8 to 3 2 in length of head and trunk together; distance 

 from anus to origin of anal fold If to 2$ in length of head. 

 The head is longe" in these than in those described by authors, 



