MURENID^. 99 



Mursena, Ilurdw. Icon. ined. Mus. Brit. pi. 300. 



Muraena minor, Srhl. b'auiia Jap. pi. 115, f. 'Z. 



Miirseiia ophis, Ititpp. All t. ^9, f. 2 ; Rich., Ereh. S Terr. p. 93. 



Diai/n. From seventeen to twenty-four irregular, marbled, and 

 branching cross-bars. 



About 1'2 marginal, scarcely-acute nasal teeth, some of them very 

 slightly curved backwards, ranged in an oval, which is completed 

 behind by the vomerine teeth. The mesial line of the disk is 

 occupied by 'i stout, conical, sub-acute teeth, rather taller than the 

 others ; and the vomer is armed by two rows of low teeth, liaving 

 slightly-compressed cusps. The rows meet in a point posteriorly, 

 and diverge anteriorly, on the angles of the vomer, so as to fill up 

 the posterior part of the nasal oval. Palatine teeth, about 'J, small, 

 very closely set in a short even row, and having somewhat com- 

 pressed, or bluntly chisel-shaped, somewhat oblique cusps. Man- 

 dible armed laterally, on each limb, by 12 or 13 even teeth, with 

 flattish or rounded crowns, and cylindrical bodies. In some spe- 

 cimens an exterior row runs along the whole limb, in others it is 

 shorter, and in others again it can be traced only in the anterior 

 quarter of the jaw. The tooth next the symphysis, standing in this 

 exteiior row, is larger than the rest, and is followed by 2 or 3 taller 

 conical inner teeth, seemingly a continuation of the principal late- 

 ral row, but placed wider apart. 



This is either an abundant species, or, from its beauty, it is sought 

 for by collectors ; for many examples of it exist in museums. Great 

 variety exists in the form and distribution of the spots in different 

 individuals. The specimen figured in plate 47, fig. 1, Ereb. d-Terr., 

 after long maceration in spirits, has a pale yellowish-gray or cream- 

 coloured ground tint, with two rows of pur[»lish-brown spots. 

 'i'hese spots radiate into irregularly-tortuous, divaricating, forked 

 brauchlets, and their disks are jnerced by one or many dots of the 

 ground-colour. The upper row, consisting of smaller spots, runs 

 on the dorsal fin and top of the back, the lower one on the sides, 

 and they coalesce in a solitary spot at the end of the tail. Their 

 number varies from twenty to twenty-four in each row; and in the 

 specimen figured on the same plate, a third row is indicated by two 

 or three spots on the belly. The ground-colour is further varied on 

 the back by many detached lines and specks, bearing some resem- 

 blance to Arabic characters. Solander olise)'ved this variety in the 

 sea, at Ulhietea, and describes its colours as follows : " M. geogra- 

 I'Hic.v, tota alha. j'unctis maciilii liiiearibi(.s riviiii-^que vrnata. Ei- 

 viili conjluenten in areas rotuudas Jiavcdine ivtmixtos. Caput supra 

 pihi/o.'ium. Iris aweo-hitea. Pupilla iiirjra. Maxilhr circa os 

 aliiifi immacidatfP. Foramina stiperne in nasn ttihidosa, Itiiea : fora- 

 mina ctiam intcrocularia lutcscciitia. Pisris certe pulcker." Par- 

 kinson's figure is unfinished ; but sufficiently characteristic. The 

 name, in the language of the Society Isles, is written in the MS8. , 

 " Pipirho." "Pipiro," and " Pipirha." Hardwicke's drawing also 

 represcnis this variety. 



