OPHISURTDfi 31 



Genus 25. MYRUS, Kaup. 



Possessing pectorals, aud teeth disposed, many in width but with- 

 out order, on the dentiferous bones of the mouth. Dorsal fin be- 

 ginning over the tip of the pectoral. 



62. MiKUS VULGARIS, fig. 14. 



Conger myrus, Cuv. Beg. An. ii., 550. 



Echelus punctatus, Raff. 65-171, t. 17, f. 1. 



Mur.Tina myrus, Linn. No. 5; Gmcl. 1134; Risso, Ichth. de Nice, 

 p. 30; Bl. Schn. 488; Richard-wn, Ereb. d Terr. 108; Rondel, 

 4:07 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. t. 29; Bon. Cat. Meth. 38, No. 324. 



Nasal disk roundish, or slightly oval, armed with short conical 

 acute teeth, biserial on the border; the outer series containing 

 about 15, the inner one about 8; also 2 on the mesial line, larger 

 than the others, one of them being a little behind the disk. Den- 

 tal surface of the vomer elliptical, and acute at both ends, armed 

 with small teeth of various sizes, some of them flattish and rounded, 

 others more acute. Palatine teeth acerose or short, slender, cylin- 

 drical, and more or less acute, crowded wdthout order; but standing 

 4 or 5 in the width of the bone, which abuts anteriorly against the 

 nasal disk. The mandibular teeth are similar to the palatine ones; 

 but the band they form is slightly narrower. 



In this genus the body tapers considerably, and the head is 

 longish and narrow. The snout being depressed is acute in profile ; 

 but appears obtuse when viewed from above. Eyes large, situated 

 over the angle of the mouth, and more than a vertical diameter 

 of the orbit distant from each other. The gape is large, exceeding 

 the moderate-sized pectoral in length. Lateral line composed of a 

 chaplet of little elliptical elevations, with white dots at equal 

 intervals. 



Fins pale, with black edges. Body brownish-grey above, in a 

 specimen that has been long macerated in spirits, the colour being 

 partly produced by densely crowded, very minute, dark, ash-grey 

 dots. A porous white band crosses the occiput, and joins another, 

 which runs along the temples over the base of the pectorals ; one 

 passes under the eye, and the pores form various lines on the snout. 

 There are also 3 short longitudinal bars on the top of the head 

 before the transverse occipital one. {Richardson.) 



Length, 23o- in. To anus, 9| in. To gill-opening, 2J in. 



Bay of Naples. (S. P. Pratt, Esq., Brit. Mus.) 



