Snake Eels

Marine; coastal, estuaries and entering rivers. Distribution: tropical to warm temperate waters. Body serpentiform. Snout subconic to pointed. Mouth subterminal to inferior. Nostrils well separated, posterior usually lying within or piercing the upper lip, opening into mouth. Tongue attached. Branchial opening small, slit or round. Branchiostegal rays 15-49 pairs, overlapping midventrally along the throat to form a jugostegalia. Neural spines poorly developed, when present. Hyomandibulae usually vertical, but may be inclined backward or forward. Lateral lines meeting dorsally at head level. Dorsal and anal, when present, confluent with or ending before caudal extremity (naked and hardened). Supraorbital pore on middle line. With or without pectoral fins. Pelvics absent. Vertebrae 110-270.