52V 
Family LEPTOCEPHALIDAE 
Body moderately long. Mouth with lateral cleft not ex™ 
tending far behind eye. ^axillary articulated with ethmoid near 
snout end. Teeth conic, cardiform or compressed, in bands or in 
one or more series, well developed in jaws and on vomer. Tongue 
largely free in front. Nostrils lateral. Gill openings separat¬ 
ed. Pharyngeal apertures of gill clefts wide. Pharyngeals ovate 
or oblong, covered with small teeth. Skin naked. Dorsal and 
I 
anal continuous with reduced caudal. Vent remote from head. 
Mostly large marine eels, found in most warm seas usually 
at moderate depths. &any undergo transformation, the young 
loosely organized, transparent, band shaped and with very small 
head. The body shrinks with increased age, owing to the com- 
pacting of the tissues* 
