108 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



one of the species {Moringita lumbricoides) implies, worm-like in appearance and 

 almost destitute of fins, the vertical fins being sometimes reduced to a fold around the 

 end of the tail. 



A group of very strange fishes, characterized by elongated jaws, sometimes exces- 

 sively produced and attenuated, has been generally approximated to the eels. These 

 form the family NEMiCHTHYiDiE. They are chiefly inhabitants of deep seas, although 

 a couple of the species have been caught at the surface, perhaps on account of accident. 

 The most common (but still rare) form has been called Nemichtkijs scolopaceus, the 



Fig. 74.— Murana Helena, murry. 



snipe-like thread-fish, or, popularly, snipe-fish. Three peculiar generic types were lately 

 obtained through the dredgings of the U. S. Fish Commission steamer ' Albatross.' 

 They exhibited a considerable range of variation in dentition. 



The only other family that demands notice here is that of the Stnaphobeanchidjj. 

 These are deep-sea fishes, of a nearly normal eel-like form, but distinguished by the 

 confluence of the branchial apertures into a single slit below the throat. They have 

 scales, resembling those of the Anguillids. The species are inhabitants of the deep 

 seas, and two have been discovered in the depths near the New England coast, Syna- 

 phobranchus pinnatiis and Histiobranchits infernalis. 



