Familia Saccopharyngidae

Saccopharyngidae

by E. Bertelsen, T. W. Pietsch and J. G. Nielsen

Elongate, black bathypelagic eels with a long tapering tail. Mouth very large, the length of neurocranium about three times in length of mandible. Jaws 20-40% preanal length. Teeth well developed in 3-4 series. Dorsal fin origin well behind gill openings and pectoral fins. A compressed caudal organ, unpigmented or with irregular arranged black patches.
Bathypelagic in tropical and temperate parts of all oceans. Carnivorous. Oviparous; leptocephalus larva.

Genera 1.

Recent revision: Nielsen and Bertelsen (1985).

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