876 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxih. 



canine teeth are strong, as in Jft/st/'ojf/n'.s. and tlie tail is niueh longer 

 than the vest of the hodv. Pectorals well developed, the dorsal 

 inserted well hchind them. Teeth sharp. (oSiy?. sharp: ffTo/xa, 

 mouth.) 



38. OXYSTOMUS MACRORHYNCHUS Sleeker. 

 UMIHEBI (SEA SNAKK) : DAINAXHEBI (FORMOSA SNAKE). 



OpJnsurus serpens Schlegel, Fauna .Ta])onica, Poiss., 1847, p. 264, Nagasaki (not 



Munena serpens Linn»us) . 

 Ophichthys serpens GrxxHEK, Cat. Fish., VIII, 1S70, jt. 65, specimen from .Tajtan. — 



IsHiKAWA, Prel. Cat., 1897, p. 6, Tokyo. 

 Ophimrus inacrorhynrlms Bleekek, Yerh. Bat. Gen. Mursen., XXV, 18.52, ji. 28^ 



Japan. — Brevoort, Exped. Japan, 1856, p. 283, Shimoda. 



Head 4 in trunk: head and trunk If in tail; depth of bod}' 3i in 

 head: snout sharp 8f in head (-t in large example); e3"e large, 3 in 

 snout, nearer angle of mouth than tip of snout: cleft of mouth 1| in 

 head; teeth pointed, fixed, unequal, those above biserial on posterior 

 part of jaw, those below uniserial; teeth of front of jaw and on vomer 

 canine: upper jaw with a row of large pores: gill openings wide; 

 pectoral 5 in head ((! in large example); the dorsal beginning behind 

 tip of pectoral a distance about equal to length of pectoral. 



Color brownish, sides and below silver}'; pectoral brownish. 



Coasts of Japan, not rare; two specimens received b}' us, the longest 

 from Onasagawa. through Yonekichi Komeyama, 32 inches long; the 

 other from Tokyo Bay. presented l)y Dr. Ishikawa; still another, over 

 4 feet long, is from Misaki. It is known as Umlliehi or Daiiuinhehi. 



The species is very close to O.njsfouiiis ser]>eni< (Linna?us) of Europe, 

 with which Dr. Gunther identities it. It seems to differ somewhat in 

 measurements. The pectoral tin is a little larger, and the head shorter 

 in relation to the trunk. At least, the two species should not ])e 

 united without full comparison of specimens, though the published 

 accounts of ''>. .sy>/^>('//.v indicate no difference of importance. {/-taKpos, 

 long: pvyx'^^^^ snout.) 



Family IX. MORIXGUID.E. 



Body cylindrical, more or less slender, the tail much shorter than 

 rest of body, usually bhmtish. with a tin at the top. Posterior nostrils 

 in front of the small eye; mouth small; teeth small, uniserial; gill 

 openings rather narrow, inferior. Heart placed far behind the gills. 

 Pectorals small or wanting; dor.sal ffn low, mostly conffned to the tail. 

 Sniall eels of the ti'opical seas, often ver}- slender or worm-like, and 

 noted for the extreme shortness of the tail. The genera are closely 

 related and two of them {2Iorlngua = Raitahoura = ^tUhlscus and 

 Apldhdlmtchthys) are found in the West Indies as well as in the East. 



a. Pectoral tin wanting or reduced to a slight scale-like appendage; vertical tins dis- 

 tinct only on the tail, not interrupted in the middle AplitJialmichthys. 24. 



