Genus: Echiodon, Pearlfish, Pearlfishes

ECHIODON

PEARLFISHES

Slender, short, cylindrical body, long slender tail; 2-3 small fleshy flaps at tip of snout above top lip; rear margin of top jaw bone not covered by skin; 1-3 large curved fangs at front of top jaw, 1-2 fangs at tip of lower jaw, these separated by a gap from other teeth, other jaw teeth small, conical, in multiple rows; gill opening extends above mid-side; dorsal and anal fins low, confluent with tail fin; dorsal origin well behind origin of anal; anal fin rays longer than dorsal fin rays opposite them; well developed pectoral fin; no pelvic fins; anus and origin of anal fin far forwards but well behind base of pectoral fin; anal fin rays longer than dorsal fin rays opposite them.

A circumtropical genus except for eastern Atlantic with ~10 species; 1 endemic in our region.