Species: Bascanichthys bascanoides, Sooty sand-eel

Bascanichthys bascanoides Osborn & Nichols, 1916

Sooty sand-eel

Head, trunk & tail rounded; head and trunk about equal to tail length; eye small (~ 7% of head length); front nostril tubular; tip of lower jaw behind base of front nostril; snout short, blunt, grooved on underside; jaw teeth small, conical, in 1 row; gill openings vertical, length = snout, distance between bases of openings slightly < opening length; pectoral fin a small, narrow-based skin flap opposite upper half of gill opening, length of pectoral fin = width of its base; dorsal and anal fins low; dorsal origin midway between gill opening & eye; tip of tail finless, hard, pointed.

Preserved fish: Red-brown above, fading to yellowish on belly; snout & lower jaw dusky; dorsal & anal pale, a pale streak along entire base of dorsal fin; lateral line pores on head not in white spots.

Size: 77 cm.

Habitat: sandy bottoms.

Depth: 0-20 m.

Southern Baja and the central Gulf of California; Cocos Is.