114 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM. 



III. Teeth wanting; lower jaw mth a distinct V-sliaped median groove for tlie reception of the 

 pointed decurved upper jaw; head rather chubby 1(5. Adontosternarchus. 



I. Electrophorus Gill. 



Gymnotus Linn^^eus, Syst. Nat., ed. XII, i, 1766, 427. 

 Electrophorus Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1864, 151. 



Type, Gymnotus electricus Linna3us. 



No frontal fontanel; anal basis extending around the edge of the tail and 

 forming a false caudal; electric organs well developed on each side of the lower 

 part of the caudal three-fourths of the body; teeth conical, in one row in each jaw; 

 body very elongate; no scales. 



The single species of this genus is the remarkable "electric eel" of South 

 America, variously known as the "Porraki" by the Indians, the "numb-fish" by 

 the English settlers, the "Tembladore" or "Tembladore ray ados" among Spanish 

 peoples, and as the "Anguille tremblante" in French Guiana. 



Fig. 1. Electrophorus electricus (Linnseus). 



1. Electrophorus electricus (Linna3us). 



RiCHTER, Mem. Acad. Paris, VII, 1729, 325; de La Condamine, Voy. dans 

 I'Amer. Merid., 1743; idem, Voy. a I'Amazone, 154, 1745 (Para); Ingram, 

 Neue Phys. Belustig., i, 1750, 288; Allemand, Verhand. Maatsch. Haarlem, 

 ii, 1755, 372; Van der Lott, Verhand. Maatsch. Haarlem, D. VI, St. II, 

 1762 (Essequibo); Bancroft, Essay on Nat. Hist. Brit. Guiana, London, 

 1769, 191 (Essequibo); Pallas, Spicil. Zool. Petrop., 1769; Bajon, in Rozier, 

 Observ. sur Phys. Hist. Nat., t. Ill, 47, 1774 (Cayenne); Fermin, Ausflihr. 

 Hist. Phys. Kolonie Surinam, Berlin, Bd. ii, 59, 1775 (Surinam); Bajon, 

 Mem. Hist. Cayenne, 1777, ii, 288 (French Guiana); Langguth, Disser. 

 Torpedine, Wittenburg, 1778, 38; Hartsinks, Beschrb. v. Guiana, Berlin, 

 1784, Vol. 1, 144; Bonaterre, Encyclopedie Methodique, 1787, 22; Van 

 Berkel, Reise nach Rio Berbice, 1789, Th. 1, 220 (British Guiana); Guisan, 

 Obser. Hist. Cayenne, 1789; Rudolphi, Abhandl. Berlin Akad., 1820-21, 

 - Physik. Klasse 229; Guerin-Meneville, Iconographie Regne Animal, 1829, 



