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Saccopharyngiformes

 
Saccopharyngiformes

 
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Saccopharyngiformes
 
 
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Saccopharyngiformes is an order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 of unusual ray-finned fish superficially similar to eel
Eel

True eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 Family s, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators....
s, 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
Aphotic zone

The aphotic zone is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight.It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates....
.

Saccopharyngiforms lack several bones, such as the symplectic bone, the bones of the opercle
Operculum (fish)

The operculum of a Osteichthyes is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
, and ribs.






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Saccopharyngiformes is an order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 of unusual ray-finned fish superficially similar to eel
Eel

True eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 Family s, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators....
s, 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
Aphotic zone

The aphotic zone is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight.It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates....
.

Saccopharyngiforms lack several bones, such as the symplectic bone, the bones of the opercle
Operculum (fish)

The operculum of a Osteichthyes is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
, and ribs. They also have no scale
Scale (zoology)

In most biology nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration....
s, 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, copepod
Copepod

Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every fresh water habitat . Many species are planktonic , but more are benthos , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds and puddle...
s, shrimp
Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, Decapoda crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh water and seawater. Adult shrimp are Filter feeder benthic animals living close to the bottom....
, and plankton
Plankton

Plankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their Phylogenetics or taxonomy classification....
. 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.

External links

  • Copyright 1999 - 2006
  • J.D. Knight, Copyright 1998
  • - Caymanian Compass, 9 October 2007