ANGUILLA. 3 



Suborder IV. A P O D E S. 

 Air-bladder, if present, communicating with the digestive tract by a 

 duct. Prsemaxillaries absent. Pectoral arch, if present, not connected 

 with and remote from the skull ; mesocoracoid arch absent. Fins with- 

 out spines, the ventrals absent. Anterior vertebrae distinct, without 

 Weberian ossicles. 



Fam. 1. ANGUILLID.E. 



Maxillaries present, separated on the median line by the ethmo-vomer ; 

 palato-pterygoid bone present, connected with the hyomandibular and 

 quadrate ; gill-clefts separate, opening into the pharynx by wide slits. 

 Prsesacral vertebra? with very strong parapophyses, to which short 

 slender ribs are attached. Vent far removed from the head. Scales 

 minute or absent. Vertebra? over 100. 



Seas of temperate and tropical zones, a few forms entering fresh 

 waters. 



Two genera are represented in African fresh-waters : — 



Minute scales * imbedded in the skin ; nostrils 



superior ; end of tail surrounded by the fin ; 



pectoral fins present 1. A nguilla, Shaw, p. 3. 



No scales ; nostrils labial ; end of tail free ; no 



pectoral fins 2. S/)hagebrancki.<s,K.a.u]),p.lO. 



1. ANGUILLA. 



Shaw. Gen. Zool. iv. p. 15 (1804) ; Giinth. Cat. Fish. viii. p. 23 (1870) ; Bouleng. 

 Fish. Nile, p. 401 (11)07). 



Body much elongate, serpentiform, with minute scales imbedded in 

 the skin, arranged in small groups placed obliquely at right angles to 

 one another. Pectoral fins well developed ; dorsal and anal fins very 

 long, united at the end of the tail, the former originating at a great 

 distance from the occiput. Mouth large, with more or less developed 

 lips ; jaws and palate with bands of small pointed teeth ; nostrils widely 

 separated from each other, the anterior tubular and at the tip of the 

 snout, the posterior slit-like and close to the eye. Gill-openings small, 

 crescentic, close to the base of the pectoral fins. 



* Absent iu the very young. 



b2 



