MCCOSKER:, GIGANTIC WORM EEL 
335 
gin of eye. Eye moder¬ 
ate, its center at mid¬ 
point of upper lip and 
top of head, its diameter 
about 2.3 in interorbital 
distance. Interorbital 
region slightly elevated. 
Gill openings below lat¬ 
eral mid-line, larger than 
orbit, located in advance 
of ventral base of pec- 
toral-fin. Dorsal fin low 
in tmnk and anterior tail 
139; tmnk length 278; tail length 801; body depth at gill openings ~42; body width at gill open¬ 
ings ~31; body depth at branchial basket ~48; body width at branchial basket ~42; body depth at 
anus ~35; body width at anus ~25; origin of dorsal fin 267; pectoral-fm length 32.8; pectoral-fin 
base 11; gill-opening length ~12; isthmus width ~ 23; snout length 27.7; tip of snout to tip of lower 
jaw 5.6; upper-jaw length 44.6; eye diameter 8.3; interorbital distance 18.9. Total left-lateral pores 
-210 lateral-line pores present, 17 above branchial basket, 59 before anus. Vertebral formula 39/66/ 
226. Wet weight after preservation 526 g. 
Description. — Body elongate (Fig. 1), depth at gill openings 29 in TL, laterally compressed 
throughout, more so in tail region. Head and trunk 3.6 and head 8.8 in TL. Snout acute (Fig. 2), 
rounded but not blunt at tip, without a median groove on its underside. Jaws moderately elongate, 
slightly curved, incapable of closing completely; center of eye in posterior 1/3 of upper jaw. Lower 
jaw included, its tip slightly beyond anterior base of anterior nostrils. Anterior nostrils directed 
anterolaterally, in very 
short tubes, without 
marginal extensions; 
posterior nostril an open 
horizontal slit along out¬ 
side of upper lip at level 
beginning slightly above 
ventral margin of orbit in 
advance of anterior mar- 
Figure 1. Holotype of Pylorobranchus hearstorum sp. nov., CAS 235464, female, 
1218 mm TL, photographed soon after eapture and before preservation by David Cata¬ 
nia. Arrow indieates origin of the dorsal fm 
Figure 2. Head of holotype of Pylorobranchus hearstorum sp. nov., CAS 235464,female, 1218 mm TL, photographed 
soon after eapture and before preservation by David Catania. 
