584 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
<jt j. Jaws long and slender, tapering to a point, recurved at tip; nos- 
trils large, botli pairs close in front of eye; gill-openings 
convergent forward, separate or confluent ; pectorals and 
vertical fins well developed ; membranes of fins thin, not en- 
veloping the rays; skeleton well developed ; deep-sea eels. 
Nemichthyid^e, VI. 
ff. Tongue broad, largely free anteriorly and on sides ; vomerine teeth 
moderate. 
i. Pectoral fins wholly wanting ; snout obtuse, very short; body 
and tail excessively elongate; cleft of mouth oblique, the 
lower jaw projecting; mouth small; teeth small, sharp, in 
narrow bands on jaws and vomer; nostrils very small, in 
front of eye; dorsal beginning just behind gill-opening, the 
fins rather low ; gill-openings lateral. 
Heterocoxgrid^e, VII. 
ii. Pectoral fins well developed ; body not excessively elongate ; 
lower jaw not projecting ; anterior nostril remote from eye. 
CONGRID^E, VIII. 
cc. Skin covered with rudimentary imbedded scales, usually linear in form, 
arranged in small groups, and placed obliquely at right 
angles to those of neighboring groups ; pectorals and vertical 
fins well developed, the latter confluent about the tail; lat- 
eral line present ; posterior nostril in front of eyes ; tongue 
with its margins free. 
i. Gill-openings well separated; branchiostegals long, bent upwards 
behind. 
j. Gill-openings lateral and vertical ; snout conic, the jaws not very 
heavy; gape linear: lips thick ; lower jaw projecting ; teeth 
in cardiform bands on jaws and vomer; eggs minute. 
ANGUILLIlnE, IX. 
jj. Gill-openings horizontal, inferior. 
k. Snout very blunt, with very strong jaws; gape transverse; 
lips obsolete ; teeth blunt, in one series, on jaws only. 
SlMENCHELYID.E, X. 
Jck. Snout conical and slender, the jaws of moderate strength ; 
gape lateral ; lips suppressed : tongue but little developed ; 
teeth acute, in bands on jaws and vomer.. .Ilyophid^e, XI. 
ii. Gill-openings inferior, very close together, apparently confluent ; 
branchiostegal rays abbreviated behind ; head conical ; 
tongue small ; posterior nostrils in front of eye. 
SYNAPHOBRANCHLCnE, XII. 
