6. CONGROMURiENA, 41 



forming bands ; those of the jaws not forming a cutting edge. 

 Vomerine band narrow, long. Pectoral and ^-ertical fins well deve- 

 loped, the dorsal beginning nearly above the gill-opening. The 

 posterior nostril opposite to the middle of the eye, the anterior with 

 a very short tube. Eyes large. 

 Tropical and subtropical seas. 



1. CongromuTsena balearica. 



Mursena balearica, De la Roche, A)in. Mus. xiii. 1809, p. 327, fig. 8. 



cassini, Hissu, Ichth. Nice, p. 1)1 ; Eur. 3Icrid. iii. p. 20.3. 



Conger opistoplitliahnus, Ranzani, Nov. Conwi. Ac. Sc. Inst. Bunoti. 

 iv. 1840, p. 78, tab. 12. fig. 1. 



auratus, Costa, Faun. Nap. Pesc. tav. 29. 



? Conger balearicus, Costa, Faun, Nap. Pesc. tav. 84. 



Conger microstomas, Castel. An. Am6r. Sud, Poiss, p. 83, pi. 43. fig. 4. 



CongeiTuursena balearica, Kaup, Apod. p. 110. 



Conger impressus, Poep, Mem. Cub. ii. p. 318. 



Ophisoma impressus, Poey, Rtpert. Fis.-nat. Cuba, ii. p. 248. 



Lips thm ; the cleft of the mouth extends to below the front 

 margin of the eye. Tail rather longer than body. Dorsal fin be- 

 ginning above or immediately behind the giU-opening. "\''ertical 

 fins ■with a narrow black margin. 



Mediterranean ; Atlantic coasts of Tropical America. 



a-h. Adult. Malta. From the Haslar Collection. 



c. Adult. From the Collection of the Zoological Society. 



d. Adult. Algiers. Presented by Lieut.-Col. Playfair. 



Our specimens show some variations which occur also in other 

 Eels, but which may be mentioned here as they assist in deciding the 

 value of characters on which species have been founded. The height 

 of the body is one twenty-seventh of the total length in examples 

 which are either males or individuals not sexually developed ; in 

 another, which is a female, the height of the body is only one- 

 thirteenth of the total. The appearance of rather large depressions 

 on the lateral line is caused by a peculiar state of preservation of 

 the examples. The depressions are very well marked on one side 

 of a specimen, whilst on the other the lateral line is marked by 

 small pores only, the cavities underneath being filled with some 

 fluid, so that no depressions are visible externally. Thus, whilst I 

 do not hesitate to refer Poey's C impressus to this species, I regard 

 it as possible that his Cotu/er analis (Mem, Cub. ii. p. 318, or 

 Ophisoma analis, Rcpert. Cub. ii. p. 248) is also identical with it. 

 However, ho describes the cleft of the mouth as extending beyond 

 the middle of the eye, and the lateral teeth as short and strong, so 

 that, without further evidence, I am not yet justified in identif)*ing 

 it with C. impre.'isus. 



2. ? Congromuraeua punctus. 



Conger punctus, Jtui/ns, Zoul. Beagle, Fish. p. 143. 

 The whole body, but not the head, thickly studded aU over with 



