98 CATALOGUE OF FISH. 



and thiuly set. Vomerine teeth irregularly biserial. Ou the other 

 dentiferous bones, the teeth are triserial. 



173. MUR.EN0-BLENNA TIGRINA. 



Ichthyophis tigrinus, Less., Voy. de la Coqullle, pi. l'^. 



Of a very elongated form, with small eyes, which are placed 

 nearer to the tip of the snout than to the corner of the mouth. 

 Gill-openings situated nearer to the dorsal surface than to the 

 ventral. Colour, brownish, with lai'ger and smaller roundish black 

 spots. Young individuals have six white stripes proceeding from 

 the occiput, with irregular black spots in the intervals. In the 

 very young, neither these stripes, nor the spots on the rest of the 

 body, are well marked. 



Total length, 29-24 in. Length of tail, 12-39 in. 

 Strong Island, Havre, Carteret. (Qmnj and Gaiinard.) 

 Moluccas (Leyden Museum). Celebes {Forster). 



Genus 36. POECILOPHIS, Kaup. 



I separate from the great stock of Murmiidm, the species which 

 have blunt or more conical teeth. The vomerines are round and 

 tessellated, disposed in two or more rows. The hinder nostrils ai'e 

 finely fringed on the upper border, while the fore nostril-tubes are 

 short, and do not reach beyond the lip. Dorsal and anal fins not 

 distinctly perceptible, so that the genus is distinguished from Gym- 

 nomurana chiefly by its more numerous rows of vomerine teeth. 



Most of the species are ornamented by a variety of tints and 

 spots ; a few, like Peli (177) and Lecomtei (180), are more of one 

 colour. 



a. Variegated species. 



174. POECILOPHIS VAKIEGATA, fig. 67. 



Mursena variegata. Rich., Ereh. d Terr. p. 04, pi. 47, f. 1-4, and 



f. 11-16; Seha Thes., 6(1, f. 1, 17. 

 Murseua geographica. Banks et Solander, MSS., 1769; Icon. Pict. 



Parkinsonii, 3 {"■ Pepedho"). 

 Echidna variegata, Icon. ined. Georg. Forster, Bill. Banks, 172. 



An. 1777. 

 Echidna variegata, J. R. Forster, Enchiridion, 31, Genus 5. An. 



1788. Id., Animal, cura Lichtenst. \). 181. ^«. ]844. 

 Murffina nebulosa, Thunh. Dissert, p. 7, tab. 1, f. 2. An. 1789. 

 Gymnothorax nebulosus, Bl. Schn. p. 528. An. 1801. 

 Gymnothorax echidna, Id., p. 526. 



