nemichthyidæ

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. A family of deep-sea apodal or murænoid fishes, typified, by the genus Nemichthys. The body is much elongated, and scaleless; the head is long with greatly prolonged jaws, like beaks, armed with teeth of various kinds; the branchial apertures are lateral; the anus is near the breast; and the tail is thread-like. The family is composed of 8 or 9 species, represented by 4 genera. All inhabit the deep sea, and with one exception are extremely rare. Some are known as snipe-fishes.