70 



DANGEROUS MARINE ANIMALS 



MORAY EELS 



Moray eels are members of the family Muraenidae. The body of 

 these fishes is scaleless, elongate, and rounded, or more or less com- 

 pressed. The dorsal and anal fins are continuous with the caudal, 

 and are generally covered by thick skin. The pectoral and pelvic 

 fins are absent. 



The meager amount of research that has been conducted on so- 

 called "venomous eels" is concerned with the single European 

 species, Muraena helena Linnaeus, which is distributed along 

 coastal areas of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean 

 Sea. Other species have been listed as venomous by modern authors, 

 but their work is purely presumptive. The teeth of M. helena have 

 been considered as constituting a venom apparatus from earliest 

 times. However, recent anatomical studies fail to show any evidence 

 of venom glands. 





spws 





Fig. 41. Top: Great Weever, Trachinus draco Linnaeus. (From Joubin) 

 Bottom: Lesser weever, Trachinus vipera Cuvier. (Shirao) 



WEEVERFISHES 



Weevers are small marine fishes, all of which attain a maximum 

 length of less than 18 inches. They are all members of the family, 

 Trachinidae, and are among the more venomous fishes of the tem- 

 perate zone. Weevers are primarily dwellers of flat, sandy, or 



