MYXINE.] PISCES (CARTILAG.) CYCLOSTOMI. 523 



p. 23. fig. 10. Lampetra caeca, Will. Hist. Pise. p. 107. tab. G. 3. 

 f. 1. Ray, Syn. Pise. p. 36. Pride, Plot, Oxfordsh. p. 187. 

 pi. 10. Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. in. p. 80. pi. 8. no. 29. Id. (Edit. 

 1812.) vol. in. p. 107. pi. 10. Bowd. Brit. fr. wat. Fish. Draw. 

 no. 32. Lamprillon, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. n. p. 406. 



LENGTH. From six to eight inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Body more slender than in the last genus, vermi- 

 form, scarcely larger than a goose-quill, marked with numerous transverse 

 lines, subcylindric anteriorly, somewhat compressed and tapering beyond 

 the vent : jaws and lips soft and membranaceous ; the upper lip semi- 

 circular, fleshy, prominent : inside of the mouth papillose, with a lingual 

 and palatine plate somewhat harder than the other portions, but no true 

 teeth : eyes obscure : a single nostril on the upper part of the head : 

 branchial orifices seven in number, situate in a kind of lateral groove ; 

 the body at this part somewhat dilated : skin naked, and covered with an 

 abundant mucosity: two dorsals; the first small and low; the second 

 closely following, longer, and rather more elevated anteriorly, but sloping 

 off to a narrow edge before uniting to the caudal : fleshy portion of the 

 tail sharp at the extremity, but the fin rounded : vent rather anterior to 

 the commencement of the last quarter of the entire length ; anal com- 

 mencing a little beyond it, uniting with the caudal. Obs. Two distinct 

 forms of this fish are not unfrequent : in one, the eyes are larger, the 

 mouth smaller, the snout more elongated, and the orifice on the crown 

 further removed from the extremity : in the other, the eyes are smaller 

 and very obsolete, the mouth larger, and the snout shorter: whether 

 these are merely sexes, or two different species, is not certain. (Colours.) 

 '* Bluish or reddish gray above, whitish beneath ; fins of the same colour 

 and almost transparent*." The following are those which Mr. Couch 

 assigns to his Petromyzon ccecus : " Colour dusky yellow, dark on the 

 back, light below ; fins light." 



Said to be frequent in the rivers near Oxford, particularly the Isis, 

 where it was first observed by Plot. Found also in other parts of Eng- 

 land, as well as in Ireland. Buries itself in the soft mud. Has not 

 the power of adhering by the mouth, like the Lamprey ; although the 

 lips, according to Mr. Couch, are capable of extensive and complicated 

 motions. Spawns at the end of April or the beginning of May. Pro- 

 bably the Stone Grig of Merrettt. 



GEN. 79. MYXINE, Linn. 

 213. M. glutinosa. Linn. (Glutinous Hag.) 



M. glutinosa, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 1080. Flem. Brit. An, 

 p. 164. Nilss. Prod. Ichth. Scand. p. 123. Gastrobranchua 

 caecus, Block, Ichth. pi. 413. Shaw, Nat. Misc. vol. x. pi. 3621 

 Turt. Brit. Faun. p. 110. Myxine caeca, Blainv. Faun. Frang. 

 p. 2. Glutinous Hag, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. iv. p. 39. pi. 20. 

 f. 15. Id. (Edit. 1812.) vol.iii. p. 109. Le Gastrobranche, Cuv. 

 Reg. An. torn. n. p. 406. 



LENGTH. From ten to fifteen inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Form.) Body elongated, vermiform, thick and cylindrie 

 anteriorly, compressed and slightly tapering behind: head scarcely 

 distinguishable, obliquely truncated in front: mouth large, circular, 



* Blainville. t Pinax, p. 1&. 



