SVNiiRAXCHIDiE. 1 Q3 



front, set with pluriserial teeth anteriorlj', diminishing to two and 

 to one row towards the corner of the mouth. Vomer acutely 

 angular, armed with three rows of stronger teeth, diminishing to 

 one row posteriorly. As in Amphlpnous and Oi>histernon, the gill- 

 openings form an angle ; and the branchiae are separated by a 

 partition within the oritice in the skin. 



213. MONOPTERUS J.4.VANICUS. 



Monopterus javanicus, Lacep.; Cantor, Mai. Fish. p. 339; Shaw, 



iv. 39; Cuv., Begn. An. ii. 354; Swains, ii. 330; Dlceker, 



Muroin. 

 Monopterus Inevis, Bichanison, Sulph. 116, cinereus, 117, pi. 52, 



f. 1-6. 

 Ophicardia phayriana, McClell. C'alc. Joura. v. 191-218, pi. 12, 



f. 1. 

 Ophicardia et Syubranchus xanthognathus, Richardson, Sulph. pi. 52, 



f. 7. 

 Synbranchus grammicus, Cantor, An. et Mag. Nat. Hist. ix. 30. 

 Synbranchus marmoratus, Temni. S Schl. 

 Monopterus marmoratus. Rich., Pi,eport, 1845, 315. 



Tliis species, which is common in the seas of Japan, China, Java, 

 Borneo, and Bengal, exhibits many varieties. Some ai'e of one 

 uniform colour, others are spotted. It also varies in the length of 

 the head, which is sometimes one-twelfth of the whole length of 

 the tish, sometimes one-fifteenth. Generally the head is propor- 

 tionally shorter in the young, and the tail is longer and more taper- 

 ing in the adult. A full-grown specimen from Borneo measures 

 34 in. Most of the specimens in the British Museum show 

 two furrows on the side formed by folds of skin, the upper one 

 being the most distinct. In a very dark coloured one there are 

 short longitudinal streaks as in the specimen figured by Sir John 

 Richardson. In his larger figure, copied from Reeves' Chinese 

 drawings, there are traces of the white lines and the furrow as a 

 black line. In a pretty large specimen a lateral line, like that of 

 cuchia, is visible ; but not the white lines that run parallel to it in 

 that species. Two specimens from Chusan, belonging to the East 

 India Company, are more or less spotted. A Chinese specimen 

 wants the rows of distinct black spots ; and others from the same 

 seas are wholly of one colour. 



