478 PISCES (OSSEI) MALACOPT. [ANGUILLA. 



the Eel tribe, and is caught plentifully in the Thames, but more especially 

 in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. She thinks that Pennant has confounded 

 it with the Glut Eel. Mr. Yarrell informs me, he considers it as distinct 

 from the last species. 



(2. CONGER, Cuv.) 



166. A. Conger, Shaw. (Conger Eel.) Dorsal and 

 anal fins margined with black : lateral line spotted with 

 white. 



A. Conger, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. iv. part i. p. 20. pi. 1. Turt. 

 Brit. Faun. p. 87. Flem. Brit. An. p. 200. Muraena Conger, 

 Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 426. Block, Ichth. pi. 155. Don. 

 Brit. Fish. vol. v. pi. 119. Conger, Witt. Hist. Pise. p. 111. 

 tab. G. 6. Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 147. Id. (Edit. 1812.) 

 vol. HI. p. 196. Yarr. in Proceed, of Zool Soc. (1831.) p. 158. 



LENGTH. From five to six feet: said to reach occasionally as much 

 as ten feet, or upwards. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) General form resembling that of the Common 

 Eel : body thick, and nearly cylindrical anteriorly, compressed and 

 tapering behind : head larger than in that species, being a little less 

 than one-seventh of the entire length: crown flat; snout a little de- 

 pressed, narrowing towards the extremity, and rather pointed : upper 

 jaw a little the longest: both jaws with a band of sharpish card-like 

 teeth, " forming three rows, of which those in the middle line are much 

 the largest; numerous smaller teeth, more uniform in size, occupy the 

 line of the vomer, but do not extend far backwards : " * lips fleshy : gape 

 wide ; not extending quite so far as a tangent to the posterior part of 

 the orbit : eyes much larger than in the Common Eel : nostrils double ; 

 the first orifice placed a little before the eye ; the second, which is 

 tubular, at the extremity of the snout : a row of mucous pores along 

 the upper lip ; several pores also between the corner of the gape and the 

 gill-opening: dorsal commencing a little behind the pectorals, or at 

 about one-fifth of the entire length : vent (in a specimen measuring 

 thirty-one inches and a half in length) about three inches before the 

 middle : anal commencing immediately behind the vent, and extending 

 quite to the extremity of the tail, where it unites with the dorsal (pro- 

 longed in a similar manner) to form a pointed caudal : 



" B. 10 ; D. A. & C. 306 ; P. 19"t. 



(Colours.) Of a uniform pale brownish gray above, passing into a dirty 

 white beneath : dorsal and anal fins whitish, margined with deep bluish 

 black : lateral line spotted with white. 



A common inhabitant of the British seas, and found on most parts of 

 the coast in considerable abundance. Attains to a very large size : has 

 been known to weigh upwards of one hundred pounds. Frequents 

 rocky ground. Is very voracious, preying on other fish and on 

 Crustacea. 



(30.) A. Myrus, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. iv. part i. p. 24. Turt. Brit. 

 Faun. p. 87. Flem. Brit. An. p. 200. Murcena Myrus, Linn. 

 Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 426. Berkenh. Syn. vol. i. p. 64. Le Myre, 

 Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 350. 



* Yarrell. 1 Bloch. 



