Osteology of Gorgasia punctata — Rosenblatt 
97 
muzzle in these fishes results in the placement 
of the eye close to the tip of the snout, and thus 
allows for close-up binocular vision. Thus, 
vision has become more important in prey find- 
ing in heterocongrines, and the eye is much 
enlarged and the olfactory organ much re- 
duced. The lateral-line system on the head has 
likewise become reduced, again probably cor- 
related with the increased dependence on vision. 
The great elongation of the slender body would 
seem to be an adaptation to getting the head 
well off the bottom, and yet maintaining con- 
tact with the sand tube which is used for cover. 
(The normal posture of a heterocongrine is 
vertical, with the anterior one-half to two-thirds 
of the body out of the sand tube.) 
On the other hand, the anagoines, except in 
the loss of the supraoccipital, have diverged 
much less from the basic congrid type, either in 
structure or in behavior. 
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