ANGUILLID^E. 35 



the palatines and vomerines are so disposed that the flat plates they 

 form taper to points towards the gullet. 



Colour, greenish ; a lens showing innumerable black points. A 

 broad dark lateral stripe from the head to the pectoral. Under 

 surface of the lish, silvery grey. Anal fin, yellowish, except to- 

 wards its extremity, where, like the dorsal, it becomes dark and is 

 dotted. Pectoral, at its base and on the side next the body, dotted. 

 The distance between the anus and the beginning of the dorsal is 

 equal to that from the latter point to the pectoral. 



Total length, 22'25 hi. Length of tail, 12-21 in. To the cor- 

 ner of the mouth, 0-8T in. To the pectoral, 1-14: in. Circum- 

 ference of the body near the pectoral, 4-92 in. 



68. Anguilla moeexa, fig. 18. 

 Anguilla morena, Val. Par. Mas. 



This likewise is a marine eel, sent from Naples by Savigny. Its 

 oval eye is half the length of the snout, and stands so that one- 

 third of its diameter passes the corner of the mouth. Its lips are 

 less developed than those of the preceding species ; and its 

 vomerine teeth do not extend so far back into the mouth. The 

 distance from the tip of the snout to the pectoral goes once and a 

 half in that from the pectoral to the beginning of tlie dorsal. 

 Like the foregoing species, it has a black longitudinal stripe, ex- 

 tending towards the gill-opening. 



Colour, dark olive-green, with a lighter ventral surface. The 

 pectoral is dark at its tip, and on the side next the body. All the 

 other fins, which are distinctly developed, have a yellowish colour. 



Total length, 1929 in. Length of tail, 10-83 in. To the cor- 

 ner of the mouth, 0-59 in. To the pectoral, 228 in. To the 

 dorsal fin, 5"63 iu. Length of the pectoral, 0*75 in. 



The interior of the mouth is dotted with black. 



69. Anguilla melanochib, fig. 19. 



Anguilla melanochir, Valenc. Par. Mas. 



This species, collected by M. Savigny in the Tiber, is charac- 

 terised by its blunt head, and entirely black colour.* Its eye 

 stands directly over the corner of the mouth, and its diameter is 

 half the length of the snout. The mandible seemingly over- 

 reaches the snout, rising beyond it. The lips are greatly deve- 

 loped. Teeth, short, conical, with sharpened points. At the 

 broadest part of the vomer, they stand in four rows. On the pala- 

 tine bones also thei'e are four rows, which decrease to three and two 

 posteriorly. The mandibulars form about five I'ows on the anterior 

 half of the bone. The fins generally are moderately high or 



• On this black colour one can place no great reliance, since the tints acquired 

 by the eels vary with the phices they inhabit. 



