Pelican-fish (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), a remarkable deep-sea Teleostean fish, described by
Vaillant in 1882. The body is somewhat eel-like, and is fringed on the dorsal and ventral middle line with spinous rays. It is the region of the jaws, however, which is most remarkable, the gape is so enormous. The fish probably engulfs small animals in whale-like fashion, but at the bottom of the sea instead of at the surface. Gill and Ryder discovered a similar form, Gustrostomus bairdii, in 1883, in which the mouth again suggests a pelican's pouch. The equally strange Saccopharyngidae are perhaps allied, but the jaws are less enormous, and the animals are notable for swallowing fishes larger than themselves.