364 Dissertation on Water Snakes, 



served by Americans, and named Sea Serpents, only one (the Mas- 

 sachusetts Serpent) appears to be such: another is evidently a 

 fish, and two are doubtful. I shall offer a few remarks on each. 



1. The Massnclmseils Sea Serpent. From the various and 

 contradictory accounts given of this monster by witnesses, the fol- 

 lowing description may be collected. — It is about lOOfeetlong; the 

 body is round and nearly two feet in diameter, of a dark brown, 

 and covered with large scales in transverse rows; its head is scaly, 

 brown mixed with white, of the size of a horse's and nearly the 

 shape of a dog's; the mouth is large, with teeth like a shark; 

 its tail is compressed, obtuse, and shaped like an oar. This ani- 

 mal came in August last into the bay of Massachusetts, in pur- 

 suit of shoals of fishes, herrings, squids, &:c. oa which it feeds. 

 Its motions are very ciuick: it was seen by a great many; but all 

 attempts to catch it have failed, although 5000 dollars have been 

 offered for its spoils. It is evidently a real Sea Snake, belonging 

 probably to the genus Pelamis, and I propose to call it Pelamis 

 megopkias, which means Great Sea Snake Pelamis. It might 

 however be a peculiar genus, which the long equal scales seem to 

 indicate, and which a closer examination might have decided: in 

 that case the name of Megopkias monstrosus might have been 

 appropriated to it. 



2. Capt. Brown's Sea Serpent. This fish was observed by 

 Capt. Brown in a voyage from America to St. Petersburg, in July 

 1818, near 60° N. latitude and S° W. longitude, or north of Ire- 

 land. In swimming, the head, neck, and fore part of the body 

 stood upright like a mast : it was surrounded by porpoises and 

 fishes. It was smooth, without scales, and had eight gills under 

 the neck ; which decidedly evinces that it is not a snake, but a 

 new genus of fish ! belonging to the eighth order Tremapnea, 

 28th family Ophictia, and 3d sub-family Catremia, along with 

 the genera Sphrigeliraiic/nis and SymLranc/nis oi Bloch,\\'h\ch dif- 

 fer by having only one or two round gills under the neck. I shall 

 call this new genus Octipos (meaning eight gills beneath) ; head 

 depressed, mouth transverse, large, eight transverse gills imder 

 the neck. And its specific name and definition will be Octipos 

 licolor. Dark brown above, muddy white beneath : head obtuse. 

 Capt. Brown adds, that the head was two feet long, the mouth 

 fifteen inches, and the eyes over the jaws similar to the horse's; 

 the whole length might be 58 feet. 



3. Tlic Scarlet Sea Serpent. This was observed in the At- 

 lantic Ocean, by the captain and crew of an American vessel from 

 New-York, wiiile reposing and coiled up, near the surface of the 

 water, in the summer of 1816. It is very likely that it was a fish, 

 and perhaps might belong to the same genus with the foregoing; 



I shall 



