380 OPHIDIID^. 



Ophidium blancodes, Tschudi, Faun. Per. Ichih. p. 29. 

 maculatum, Tschudi, I. c. tab. 5 (barbels omitted.) 



Barbels much shorter than the head, split close from the base, the 

 outer filament much longer than the inner. Reddish-olive, marbled 

 with darker ; vertical fins with dark-brown margins. 



New Zealand. Coasts of Chile and Peru. 



a. Sixty- two lines long. "Valparaiso. From Mr. Bridges' Collection. 



The following descriiition is taken from the single specimen in the 

 British Museum, which is evidently very young : — 



The head is twice as long as high, its length being contained four 

 times and two -thirds in the total ; it is compressed, and the width 

 of the interorbital space is less than that of the orbit. Snout obtusely 

 conical, a little longer than the diameter of the eye, which is contained 

 five times and a half in the length of the head. The cleft of the 

 mouth is slightly oblique, with the upper jaw overlapping the lower, 

 and with the maxillary extending to below the posterior margin of 

 the orbit. Each jaw is armed with an outer series of strong teeth, 

 within which there is another series of much smaller ones ; vomerine 

 teeth in a narrow band, smaller than those of the palatines, which 

 form a single series. The longer portion of the barbel is about half 

 as long as the head. The operculum terminates in a cutaneous flap, 

 enveloijing a very smaU spine. 



The height of the body is three- fifths of the length of the head, 

 which is one-half of the distance of the vent from the extremity of 

 the snout. Tail compressed, tapering. The dorsal fin commences 

 above the middle of the pectoral, and is composed of very numerous 

 closely-set rays like the anal. The pectoral is rounded, inserted in 

 the lower haK of the depth of the body ; it is not quite half as long 

 as the head. 



Scales minute ; the lateral line is scarcely visible, and disappears 

 entirely in the middle of the body. 



Eeddish-olive, marbled mth darker ; head and trunk minutely 

 dotted with brown ; vertical fins edged with brown. 



3. Genypterus chilensis. 



Congrio. 



Conger chilensis, Chiich. in Gay, Hist. Chil. Zool. ii. p. 339. 



Genypterus nigricans, Philippi, I. c. p. 269. 



Barbels split close from the base. Black : sides and anal fins with 

 white spots. 

 Coasts of Chili. 



Adopting the opinion of Philippi, I formerly arranged this fish 

 among the Blennoids (vol. ii. p. 294) ; but since I have discovered 

 its generic identity with Ophidium hlamdes, Forst., it is necessary to 

 remove it from that family. It is even possible that it is specifically 

 identical with the fish figured by Tschudi as Ophidium maculatum. 



