| Summary: | Nettastomatidae, Nettastoma melanurum Body very elongate, scaleless, cylindrical anteriorly, compressed posteriorly and tapering to a point; anus before midpoint of body. Head long;anterior nostril tubular, at base of prominent snout tip; posterior nostril an oval hole at level of upper eye margin. Jaws elongate, the upper with prominent tip and longer than lower; rictus below posterior eye margin. Teeth in bands on jaws and vomer, their size diminishing slightly from inner rows to outer ones; no palatopterygoid teeth; plates of upper and lower pharyngeal teeth of same shape and size. Gill openings crescentic, lateral. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins confluent, well developed; dorsal fin origin over gill opening.Lateral line with 43-45 preanal pores; 7-9 before gill openings; 3supratemporal pores. Vertebrae: total 186-207 (larvae 186-211 myomeres;preanal 60-70); abdominal 56-59. Colour: (preserved specimens) brownish dorsally, pale whitish-brown ventrally; posterior part of dorsal and anal fins with a black margin; peritoneum black. Size: to 80 cm.
|
|---|