NO. 1239. APODAL FISHES OF JAPAN— JORDAN AND SNYDER. 861 



Muraenesocidce, N3ttastomid(E, and Myridm are all ver}' close to the 

 Leptoct'phalidrp and niig-ht be reunited with the latter, as in Bleeker's 

 arrangement. 



a. Pectorals present; dorsal beginning near the gill opening Myru><. 11 . 



ofl. Pectorals wanting; dorsal low, beginning well behind gill opening. 



1 1. MYRUS Kaup. 

 Mijruii K.vui', Apodes, ISoH, p. ol (nu/ni.s). 



Bodv slender; nostrils close to maroiu of upper li}), the anterior 

 tul)ular, the posterior lobed. Pectoral well developed; dorsal begin- 

 ning behind gill opening; caudal rays very short. Teeth subequal in 

 bands. Species few, of the Mediterranean Sea and Japan, ij^vpog^ 

 an ancient name in Aristotle of some eel.) 



20. MYRUS UROPTERUS (Schlegel). 



Conger uropterus Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., 1847, p. 261, Nagasaki. 

 Ophisiirm- uropterus Bleeker, Act. Soc. Nederl., Ill; Japan, IV, p. 28; V, pi. i, 



fig. 1, Nagasaki. 

 Mi/rus uropterus GIjnthek, Cat. Fish., VIII, 1870, p. 50, from a specimen sent by 

 Dr. Bleeker.— Nystrom, K. Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl., 1887, p. 46. 

 Nagasaki. 

 Tail twice as long as trunk without head; cleft of mouth to hind 

 margin of eye; dorsal tin beginning over end of pectoral; front margin 

 of eye uuich nearer end of maxillary than tip of snout. Coloration 

 plain })rowni.sh. (Gimther.) Nagasaki; not seen In- us; probably 

 rare. {<f>vpa^ tail; TtTepov, tin.) 



12. MUR^ENICHTHYS Bleeker. 



Murmdchthijs Bleeker, Verhand. Batavia, Gen. Murten., XX^', 1853, }>. 71 

 {gymnoptnus) . 

 Slender worm-shaped eels, without pectoral lins, and with both 

 nostrils on the margin of the upper lip. Dorsal and anal very low, 

 beginning far behind gill opening and meeting around the tail; gill 

 opening small; teeth small. East Indies and Japan, [jxvpcxiva^ 

 moray; ix^vz\ tish.) 



a. Dorsal fin inserted before vent. 



h. Dorsal fin inserted more than a liead's length before vent, at a point nearer gill 

 opening than vent; form robust, snout blunt, flattish; top of head with large 



pores, fins well developed on tail owstuni. 21. 



hi). Dorsal fin inserted less than a head's length in advance of vent; form slender. 

 c. Snout short, blunt, 10 in head, not longer than eye; insertion of dorsal three- 

 tenths of the head's length before vent; head 2* in trunk liatta-. 22. 



aa. Dorsal fin inserted behind vent; snout long, sharp, 5i in head, much longer than 

 eye; insertion of dorsal three-fourths head's length before vent; head 3| in 

 trunk noki. 23. 



