200 FISHES. MALACOPT. Leptocephalus. 



Mr Pennant notices a " variety of this fish known in the Thames by the 

 name of grigs, and about Oxford by that of grigs or gluts. These are scarcely 

 ever seen near Oxford in the winter, but appear in the spring, and bite readi- 

 ly at the hook, which common eels in that neighbourhood will not. They 

 have a larger head, a blunter nose, thicker skin, and less fat than the com- 

 mon sort ; neither are they so much esteemed, nor do they often exceed 3 or 

 4 pounds in weight." — Erit. Zool. iii. 145. 



110. A. Conger. Conger-Eel. — Margin of the dorsal and 

 anal fins black. 



Conger, Merr. Pin. 185. Sibb. Scot. 23. Will. Ich. Ill — Mursena su- 

 premo margine pinnae dorsalis nigro, Art. Ich. Syn. 40 — Mursena Con- 

 ger, Linn. Syst. i. 426. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 147 — In the sea, com- 

 mon. 

 Length about 5 feet ; sometimes reaching to 10, and weighing 130 pounds. 

 Above dark olive, beneath whitish ; the lateral line broad and white. Irides 

 silvery. Upper jaw longest. The dorsal fin commences nearer the head in 

 this species than in the common eel. This species resides always in the sea, 

 is exceedingly voracious, and tenacious of life. It is chiefly found on a rocky 

 bottom. The small eels which come up the Severn in April, noticed by 

 Willoughby and Pennant, are probably not the young of the conger, but of 

 the common eel. 



The two following species have long^ occupied a place in the British Fauna, 

 and though their claims appear doubtlul, they deserve some notice. 



a. A. Myrus. Flat-tailed Sea Serpent — This resembles the conger, but is 

 smaller, the back spotted with white, an occipital white band, and the fins 

 bordered with black. This species was inserted as British by Berkenhout 

 (Syn. i. 64.), without reference to any habitat. 



b. Ophisurus Ophis. Spotted Sea Serpent — This species is distinguished 

 from those of the genus Anguilla by the naked pointed tail, It was first in- 

 serted by Merret (Pinax, 185.), afterwards by Sibbald (Scot. 23.), and latter- 

 ly by Berkenhout (Syn. i. 64.), as a British fish ; but by none of these au- 

 thors were any remarks, illustrative of the time or place of capture, commu- 

 nicated. 



Gen. LI. LEPTOCEPHALUS. Morris. Body com- 

 pressed like a ribband. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins 

 united. 



111. L. Morisii. — Dorsal and ventral margins with minute 

 black spots. 



Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 158. Mont. Wem. Mem. ii. 436, tab. xxii. 1 — On 

 the southern shore of England. 

 Length 6 inches, breadth half an inch, and about the sixteenth part of an 

 inch in thickness. Body semipellucid. Head small, but nearly in a straight 

 line with the back. Lateral line straight. Jaws equal ; teeth numerous, in- 

 clining forwards. Eyes large, irides silvery. Branchial aperture small, 

 transverse. Dorsal fin commences at nearly one-third of the length of the 

 fish from the head. Vent a little nearer the head than the tail. Pectorals 

 small This singular species was first observed near Holyhead by Mr Wil- 

 liam Morris, who communicated the specimen to Pennant. Though seem- 



