onnniN^. 157 



neither tlie drnwijigs nor the floscriplions are RufTiciently precise to 

 enable us to jiidtTe correctly. This is not the case with JMontagu's 

 figure. The Ophidiiim hlacodcs of Forster belongs either to this 

 place or to the Ophidiiim, which Teuiminck and Schlcgel were in- 

 clined to refer to Brotida. The Oph. vincidatioii of Tschiidi be- 

 longs to hlacodes, according to a brief notice of Johannes Miiller in 

 tlie " Bcricht iiber d. Leist. dc. Archii\'' 1810, p. 353. 



Genus 4. FIERASFEH, aivier. 



Oxybeles, Richm-dson. 

 Echiodou, Thomson; Yarr. 



Anus in the })ectoral region ; vomer prominent in the roof of the 

 moutli, and armed with blunt or latei'ally-compressed teeth. Seven 

 branchiostegals. No scales. 



9. FlERASFER ACUS, Kuup. 



Fierasfer massiliensis, Briinnich, 13, 24. 



Gymnotus acus, Omelin, 1140. No. 0. 



Notopterus Fontancsii, Bisso, Ichth. de Nice, 82, t. iv. f. 1 1. 



b'ierasfer Fontanesii, Costa, Fauna Nap. t. 20 {his). 



Opliidium fierasfer, Risso, Hist. iii. p. 212. 



Ophidiura fulvescens, Raf. Caratteri, p. 38, No. 282 ; Swains. Cijcl. 



f. 77 and 130 a. 

 Fierasfer iraberbis, Cuv. Rcgn.An. ii. 359. 



A very slender body posteriorly, tapering away into an acutely- 

 pointed tail. Under the lateral line as far as the intestinal canal 

 reaches there runs a row of fifteen silvery or golden spots, with 

 solitary black dots. Black dots or points run also over the head 

 and sides towards the end of the tail and occasionally form black 

 angular transverse bars on the back. The premaxillaries support 

 near their symphysis two rows of card-like teeth, and near the 

 corner of the mouth there are more rows of blunt vitreous-looking 

 ones. A tuft of pointed teeth stands on the elongated projection of 

 the vomer, the middle row being the tallest : tliey are a little com- 

 pressed laterally and more round and curved at their points. On 

 tlie palatines the teeth are vitreous-looking. The mandibular teeth 

 are in several rows, the outer row being the tallest. 



This is a common fish in the Mediterranean, and is esteemed for 

 the tenderness of its ilesh. Since the Ophidium imberhe of Liu- 

 najus. Pennant, and Yarrell is a totally distinct fish, the name of 

 imberbis erroneously applied to it by Cuvier cannot stand. The 

 figure in Risso's Ichthyology is recognisable. Risso says that the 

 tongue is somewhat rough, but this is true only of its distal parts ; 

 the proper tongue is smooth and pointed and reaches to the project- 

 ing part of the vomer; he also states erroneously that the pre-oper- 

 culum is denticulated, but he was deceived by the angular silvery 



