Description of a new species of blind eel, of the genus <I>Anguilla</I>

Vol. XVII, pp. 121-122 June 9. 1904

PROCEEDINGS

i<V THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF BLIND _EEL, OF THE (4ENUS AXGUILLA.

BY HUGH

^M.

SMITH.

[Contribution from U. S. Bureauof Fisheries.]

On _July

31, 1902,

during

^{a cruise of the}

schooner Gmurpus

to the tile-fish

grounds

lying

on

the

inner edge

^{of the}

Gulf Stream,

^{the writer collected} at the _surface,

60

miles

south

of

Nomans _Land,

a

small

eel

which

_represents a hitlierto

un- known

_{species of}

_AnguiUa, and

ishere

diagnosed and

_figured.

Anguilla C£eca Smith,

new

_sj^ecies.

Similartothe

common

eel,AiiguiUu chri.vjpu Rafinesque, ^l)ut with the head

and

snout

somewhat

broader, themandible_longer

and more

_project-

ing,the eyes completely covered

by

^skin

and

the

body

uniformly^black.

Body

cylindrical anteriorly,compressed posteriorly,the depth ^contained

2.7timesin length ofhead; head about.12 total length;

mouth

_large, lowerjawstronglyprojecting; teeth small, in a

band

in each jaw, a small patch^alsoon vomerine; ^anteriornostrils tubular, posterior nostrilssimple pitsin frontofeye^{; a}largepore on each side half-way between _nostrils, andarowof_largepores on each side of lower jaw; branchial aperture vertical,aboutlength of base ofpectoral,extending below^{base of}pectoral;

pectoral^finswelldeveloped, ^.25length ofhead; dorsalorigin posterior to gill-opening a distance equal ^to1.6length ofhead; analorigin posterior to dorsal adistance equal^to.66 length of head. ^Scales not evident. Skin uniformlyjetblack; finsdarkreddish

brown

_by transmitted light; skin

•overeyes not appreciably thinnerthanelsewhere. Eyes aboutas large as 19—Proc.Bioi,.See.Wash.Vol. XVII,^1904. (121)

122

Smith

— _A

_Neiv

Species of

Blind

Eel.

those of

common

eel of

same

size

and

placedposterior to the angle of themouth,their positionindicated

by

^aslight elevation.

The

_{type, B}cm. _long,hasbeen_deposited in theUnited States National

Museum, and

^is

numbered

_51,483onthetish register.

From

the foregoing description ^itwill be seen that this species closely resembles A.chrii^iipn.

Comparing

^{itwith a}specimen^ofthe

common

eel ofthe

same

_size,of thei)ale, translucent _ty{)e,taken from a tributary of Casco _Bay, Maine,

May

^{13, 1903,themost}striking differences,besidesthe absenceof functional_eyes,arein the length of thelower jaw

and

theloca- tionof the eyesposterior tothe angle of the mouth,^as

shown

in the^ac-

companying

figuresofthesetwo_specimens.

Fig.1. ComparisonoftypeofAn_guillaciecaSmith (upperfigure)with specimen^of AnguiUachrisypaRafinesque (lowerfigure)ofsamesize.

Although^thisfish was foundatthesurface, ina_localitywherethewater was about50fathoms_deep,it isevident that it is a bottom _species,

and

thatthe typewasa_stray.