“…Because the tTRC is usually associated with the extrascapula and posttemporal (Webb, 1989), the two elements of A. japonica are likely to be two extrascapulae, one extrascapula (anterior) and one posttemporal (posterior), or two posttemporals. Such tube-like elements have not before been reported in extant anguilliforms (e.g., da Silva João Paulo et al, 2019;Forey et al, 1996;Johnson et al, 2012;Robins, 1989), although a fossil anguilliform, Luenchelys minimus Belouze et al, 2003, had an extrascapula and posttemporal in the putative position of the tTRC (Forey, Yi, Patterson, & Davies, 2003), a pattern consistent with the second suggestion (above). Therefore, the presence or absence of tube-like elements (putative extrascapula and posttemporal) should be reassessed throughout the order and their identity confirmed.…”