85 



Posterior nostrils very close to the eye, not tubular. 

 Dorsal commencing a very little before the gill-opening. 

 Anus rather behind the middle of the fish. 



Colour generally a dark, dingy brown, but when closely 

 examined the prevailing hue is found to be produced by 

 roundish, liver-brown specks, of the size of a pin's head, 

 crowded so densely towards the back as almost to exclude 

 the pale ground tint, but which separate on the side.s, so 

 that the ground colour forms reticular lines. On the belly 

 the spots are comparatively widely set, and much of the 

 groimd tint appears. An obscure reticulation on a larger 

 scale can also be made out, dividing the side of the fish 

 into about four rows of spots as big as a pistol bullet, set 

 alternately. On the head and throat are many small, 

 brown spots, occupying less space than the pale orange- 

 tinted ground colour. Fins a little whitish on the edges. 



Length 18'5 inches. To anus 9-6. To gill-opening 2 6 

 inches. From anus to tip of tail 89 inches. 



Hab. The Moluccas. (Spec, in the British Museum, 

 received from Berlin, labelled M. varieijatu). 



MuR^NA siDEKEA. Richardson. 



Radii :— Br. 8 ; D. 306 ; A. 192 = 



Plate XLVIII., fig. 1—5. 



Principal series of nasal teeth about twelve in number, 

 compressed-subulate, with acute edges, or narrowly lan- 

 ceolate, and moderately tall, vrith an equal number of 

 short, conico-subulate, bluntish, angular, or furrowed teeth, 

 ranged close to their bases exteriorly, most crowded at 

 the symphysis, where they form two rows, or three in all. 

 On the mesial line one stout, conico-subulate tooth is 

 placed well forward, the two more posterior ones usually 

 seen in the Murcence, being either wanting in this species, 

 or more likely broken oft' in the three specimens that we 

 have examined. The vomerine teeth are in two rows, the 

 rows commencing on the anterior corner of the bone on 

 each side of the nasal disk, and gradually approaching 

 each other, so as to coalesce in the back part of the mouth. 

 This disposition of the teeth is not very happily represent- 

 ed in plate 48. These teeth are very small and short, 

 with acutely compressed, but not pointed tips. 



Palatine teeth eight, uniserial, close set, reflex, nar- 

 rowly lanceolate, and diminishing in size as they ap- 

 proach the corner of the mouth. Each limb of the 

 mandible is armed from the symphysis to the corner of 

 the mouth with a series of fourteen or fifteen narrowly lan- 

 ceolate, very acute, and moderately reflex teeth ; and at 

 the end of the jaw there is an exterior row of seven close 

 set, short, conical, furrowed teeth, almost concealed by 

 integument ; there is also a small tooth close to the 

 symphysis still more exterior than this row, making the 

 teeth three deep at that spot. 



The snout is obtuse, the eye moderately large, the pos- 

 terior nostrils are not tubular, and the gill-opening is 

 larger than usual, and placed at a considerable distance 



from the corner of the mouth. The fold of skin investing 

 the dorsal is very lax, and comes forward to the eyes, from 

 behind which it rises in a high and abrupt curve. The 

 dorsal commences a little way before the gill-opening, or 

 about half an inch in a specimen measuring twenty-seven 

 inches ; and its first rays are short, the succeeding ones 

 increasing rapidly until they attain the full height of the 

 fin, which is even for the greatest part of its length. The 

 anus in one specimen is about a fiftieth part of the whole 

 length beyond the middle, while in another it is a thir- 

 teenth part, the tail being comparatively short in the lat- 

 ter. This is an instance of the danger of relying solely on 

 such measurements for the establishment of specific cha- 

 racters in this genus. 



The heart is situated between the gill-openings and 

 four gills are placed in a bag on each side of the throat. 

 Each gill-opening enters its proper bag at the pos- 

 terior part, and there are five round holes by which the 

 bag communicates with the gullet, four of the holes perfo- 

 rating the bases of the four gills, and the fifth the mem- 

 brane behind the last gill. No part of the gills adheres 

 to the walls of the sac, and there are no rakers on the an- 

 terior borders of the gill-plates. 



On opening the belly the liver is seen lying to the right 

 of the stomach, but not exceeding one-third of the length 

 of that viscus, which is a long, conical bag, reaching 

 downwards to the anus. The pyloric orifice is a small, 

 round, lateral opening, situated midway between the gul- 

 let and the tip of the stomach, which in a specimen mea- 

 suring twenty-seven inches is ten inches and a quarter 

 long. The internal coat of the stomach is plaited longi- 

 tudinally. The gut descends from the pylorus behind the 

 liver, parallel to and in contact with the stomach, and 

 near the anus there is a dilated part, which contains a 

 complete spiral valve, formed by transverse septa, each 

 having a semilunar notch, which is alternately turned to 

 the right and left. Two or three valves are strengthened 

 by longitudinal folds of membrane from the side of the 

 gut. There are in all six transverse valves, and a smooth 

 piece of gut intervenes between the valvular part and the 

 anus. 



The ground colour is white on tlie throat and belly, with 

 a purplish gray or slightly brownish tint towards the back, 

 interspersed with innumerable roundish, dark, blackish 

 purple specks, about the size of a pin's head. The spots 

 are more rare on the middle line of the belly towards the 

 vent, numerous on the cheeks and sides, and densely 

 crowded and more or less confluent on the back and fins. 

 They are aggregated and blacker in oval and roundish 

 patches disposed in three or four rows along the fish. 

 The specks are not represented round enough in the 

 figure. The fins are slightly edged with white towards 

 the tip of the tail. 



Length .... .... .... 28-25 26-75 inches. 



„ from snout to anus .... 14-60 1500 



„ „ to gill-opening 390 4-25 



Height of body .... .... 190 2-00 



Thickness of ditto .... TOO MO 



Hab. The western and northern shores of Australia and 

 the coasts of New Guinea. 



