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| gulper eel | ||||||||
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 Pelican eel, Eurypharynx pelecanoides.
From plate 49 of Oceanic Ichthyology by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean, published 1896. |
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Saccopharyngiformes is an order of unusual ray-finned fish superficially similar to eels, but with many internal differences. Most of the fish in this order are deep-sea types known from only a handful of specimens such as the Umbrella Mouth Gulper Eel. Saccopharyngiformes are also bioluminescent in several species. Some, such as the swallowers, can live as deep as 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the ocean, well into the aphotic zone.
Saccopharyngiforms lack several bones, such as the symplectic bone, the bones of the opercle, and ribs. They also have no scales, pelvic fins, or swim bladder. The jaws are quite large, and several types are notable for being able to consume fish larger than themselves. Their myomeres (muscle segments) are V-shaped instead of W-shaped like in all other fish, and their lateral line has no pores, instead it is modified to groups of elevated tubules.
Classification
There are four families in the order:
- Cyematidae (bobtail snipe eels)
- Eurypharyngidae (pelican eel)
- Monognathidae
- Saccopharyngidae (swallowers, gulpers or gulper eels)
Diet
The gulper eel eats fish, copepods, shrimp, and plankton. It uses its mouth like a net by opening its large mouth and swimming at its prey. Due to the gulper eel's odd body shape, it is a poor swimmer and relies on the luminescent organ at the tip of its tail.clarify
External links
- "Saccopharyngiformes". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Enchanted Learning Gulper Eel Copyright 1999 - 2006
- The Sea - Gulper Eel J.D. Knight, Copyright 1998
- Small fish takes big bite - Caymanian Compass, 9 October 2007
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 17 September 2008, at 14:43.
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