EELPOUT. 
605 
the 7th or 8th tooth in the anterior row. In the lower 
jaw the form of the teeth is the same, and they 
are set. in almost the same manner; but the posterior 
row is somewhat longer and ends only a. little sooner 
than the anterior row. There are no teeth on the pa- 
late or the tongue, which is flat, rounded, and fleshy, 
but scarcely free, at all. 1 he palatal folds within the 
jaws are well-developed, but not at all deep. In the 
pharynx we find above on each side three small, trans- 
versely-set pharyngeals, set with short, conical teeth in 
more or less curved rows, convex in front, the middle 
pair of pharyngeals with two rows of teeth, the anterior" 
and the posterior pairs with only one. The lower pha- 
ryngeals are longer, pointed at both ends, and furnished 
with three longitudinal rows of short and blunt teeth. 
The gill-rakers are scattered — 16 on each of the first, 
pair of branchial arches — and resemble short, pointed 
papillae, each with a small, sharp, osseous spine within 
it. The branchiostegal membrane is united underneath 
to the corresponding membrane on the other side, but 
coalesces entirely with the skin of the isthmus (the 
breast), leaving no free margin behind, though the 
margin may be distinguished. The gill-openings extend 
downward somewhat beyond the lower end of the in- 
sertions of the pectoral fins and are separated from it. 
by a distance about equal to the length of the snout; 
while above they reach over a part of the upper margin 
of the operculum, the skin of which is prolonged behind 
into a blunt point. The eyes are comparatively small, 
rather prominent, and set in front of the middle of the 
head and high up, the distance between them being 
about equal to the breadth of either eye. They lie in 
planes that converge somewhat in a forward and upward 
direction. The nostrils, one on each side, are set. as in 
the Sea-cat at. about the middle of the length of the 
snout, and resemble fairly high, flexible, dermal tubes 
with even margin. The eye is surrounded as usual by 
a ring of muciferous pores, belonging to the cephalic 
system of the lateral line. One of these pores, the 
second in the frontorostral branch of this system of 
ducts, has been regarded as a posterior nostril. The 
first pore of this branch lies just in front of the nostril. 
Through both these pores a fine hair may be passed 
into the duct beneath the skin, far back and above the 
eyes. The lower jaw is also coasted by a row of si- 
milar and distinct pores. 
The body proper (the trunk) is cylindrical, with 
pendent bell}’, especially in gravid females. The Eel- 
like tail, which ends in a point, is strongly compressed 
laterally. During life the fish is coated with a thick 
layer of mucus, partly concealing the thin, scattered 
scales, which lie depressed in the skin without touching 
each other. These scales are almost circular or oblong, 
and smooth-margined, with fine, concentric striae, in 
the outer part dense, in the inner part, (nearer the 
nucleus) scattered, and grooves radiating in all direc- 
tions. The lateral line is not very distinct. The head 
is scaleless. 
The vent lies just in front of the beginning of the 
anal fin, a little in front of the middle of the body 
(cf. the above table), and further forward in young 
specimens, as in the American form, than in old. Be- 
hind it. is furnished with a papilla, most distinct in 
the males, similar to that we have above remarked in 
the Cottoids. 
The dorsal fin is low, begins just behind the occi- 
put. (cf. the above table), and extends, imperceptibly 
diminishing in height, back to the extreme end of the 
tail; but a little in front of this point it shows a more 
or less broad depression or incision, which is supported 
by spinous rays, an extremely singular variation of the 
other soft rays, and characteristic of this genus. The 
number of these spinous rays varies between 6 and 10". 
In front of the depression the dorsal fin contains about 
80 rays, all weak and articulated, and all, with the 
exception of the first rays, branched at the tip. These 
rays are united by a fairly thick, slimy skin, which 
is strewn at the base of the fin with scales similar to 
those which clothe the body. These scales extend 
higher up in the posterior part of the fin than in the 
anterior. The anal fin is of exactly the same structure, 
form, and extent in a backward direction as the dorsal; 
but is without, any incision, coalescing completely and 
without the least break with the caudal fin. At the 
base the anal fin is strewn with scales in the same 
manner as the dorsal. From 70 to 80 rays may be 
counted with tolerable ease; but behind these the re- 
maining rays lie so close to each other that, their num- 
ber can hardly be fixed with certainty. 
The pectoral fins are fairly large — their length 
from the upper angle of the fin varying between 1 1 
and 13 % of that of the body — and broad, with rounded 
a Ekstrom and Fries have seen two rows of teeth on the anterior pair as well. 
6 In the American Enchelyopus anguillaris their number may rise to at least 16 
