Cephalic Morphology of Ariosoma gilberti (Bathymyrinae: Congridae)

The head bones and relevant muscles are important elements composing the feeding and respiration apparatus and can be considered as highly important structures for giving rise to evolutionary specializations. The eels of the Anguilloidei is a diverse group and structural diversity in their cranial musculoskeletal system is thus to be expected. Ariosoma gilberti is a member of Bathymyrinae (Congridae) with a hydraulic based prey transport and closely related to muraenid family with mechanical prey transport system. Since there is no information about the cephalic morphology of A. gilbert, hence this study was conducted to provide detailed description of its cranial osteology and myology. The immobile maxillary with large pointed teeth, an anterior moderate mouth gape, large jaw closing muscles and large lateral and ventral bony elements, providing more room for the orobranchial cavity of A. gilberti suggesting the presence of a hydraulic and suction-based mechanism.