526 ORDER MALACOPTERYGII APODES. 



are similar to those of the common eel ; a portion of 

 them, however, extends into the base of the tail 

 beyond the anus. 



The pectoral fins of some are of the ordinary size ; 

 the teeth are trenchant and pointed. 



Mur. serpens, L., Salv., 57. (The Snake Eel). 

 More than six feet in length, and of the thickness of a 

 man's arm ; brown above, silvery beneath ; the snout 

 slender and pointed ; there are twenty rays in the 

 branchial membrane. From the Mediterranean \ 



In others the pectorals are so extremely small, as 

 sometimes to escape the notice of observers. They 

 connect the eels with the Muraena ; their teeth are 

 obtuse 2 . 



Mur^na, Thunb., Gymnothorax, BL, Muiuenophis, 



Lacep. 



The Muraenas, properly so called, have no vestige 

 of pectorals ; their branchiae open on each side by a 



1 This is doubtless the place of Mur. ophis, BL, 154, Ophis 

 hyala, Buchan., pi. v. f. 5 ; -Ophis longmuseau, Quoy et Gaym., 

 Zool. Voy. Freycin., pi. li. f. 1 ; Ophisurus guttatus, Cuv., a new 

 species from Surinam. 



N.B. The Cogrus, Rafin., Nov. Gen., p. 62. must be Ophisuri 

 without branchial membranes ; we fear there is some mistake in 

 this as in his Echelus. 



2 Mur. colubrina, Bodd., or annulata, Thunb., or Murenophis 

 colubrina, Lac, V. xix. 1 ; Mur. fasciata, Thunb. ; Mur. nob. 

 maculosa, given under the name of Ophisurus ophis, Lacep., II. 

 vi. 2 ; the Oph. atlernan, Quoy et Gaym., Zool. Freycin., pi. xlv. 

 f. 2. 



