Astronesthes richardsoni chin is ribbon-like and lacks a bulb or swelling at its tip. The dorsal fin has 12 to 14 soft rays and the anal fin has 13 to 18. The origin of the dorsal fin is behind the insertion of the pelvic fins. There is a dorsal adipose fin anterior to the caudal peduncle, and a small ventral adipose fin just anterior to the anus. There are two rows of photophores (luminous spots) on each side of the underside of the fish, numerous other photophores on the head and body and a luminous patch on the edge of the preoperculum;
Operculum (gastropod) seals the shell, it can also serve as a protection against predators when the snail body is retracted. In life, the operculum is attached at the ending of the columellar muscle with an opercular disc dorsally to the upper surface of the posterior part of the foot. However, in "Buccinum" a layer of long cylindrical epithelial cells, with mostly distinct nuclei, and long divided processes enter between the muscular fibres. The operculum, a cuticular development of these cells, is composed, as may be seen in the corneous opercula of "Murex", "Purpura", "Triton", of very thin superimposed layers. The cylindrical cells