GEN. OPHIDIUM. BEARDLESS OPHIDIUM. 267 



ful.* It is about five or six inches long, the head 

 short and blunt, the dorsal commencing before the 

 middle, the anal rather behind it, and both uniting 

 at the tail, which gradually narrows to a point. 

 The lateral line is straight, and a double series of 

 oblique lines meet it at an acute angle. The thick- 

 ness of the fish, according to Montagu, does not ex- 

 ceed the sixteenth part of an inch. It is usually 

 found entangled among sea- weed. Mr. Yarrell is 

 of opinion that the Leptocephalus Spallanzani of 

 Risso, which occurs in the Mediterranean, is identi- 

 cal with the fish just noticed. 



Gen. XCIY. OPHIDIUM. >A few simple charac- 

 ters, as they will be found stated in our Synopsis, 

 are sufficient to indicate the distinction between 

 this and the allied genera. We possess two species 

 presenting strong marks of difference, although it 

 has not been thought necessary to separate them 

 generically. 



(Sp. 198.) 0. imlerbe. Beardless Ophidium. 

 We are indebted to Pennant for the earliest notice 

 of this fish as British. His specimen, communicated 

 to him by the Duchess of Portland, was obtained 

 at Weymouth, but as he gave only an indifferent 

 figure of it, unaccompanied with description, con- 

 siderable doubts exist as to the identity of his fish 

 with the one above named. Colonel Montagu 

 afterwards procured an example of what he con- 

 sidered to be 0. imberle, and described it under that 



* London's Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. vi. pp. 530 and 531. 



