THE MUR^INA AND SAND-LANCE. 167 



The "conger feeds on fishes and crabs and 

 other Crustacea ; it breeds in the winter. Vast 

 numbers of congers are taken by the French 

 fishermen, who find a ready sale for this iish 

 in the French markets. 



We may here allude to that voracious fish, 

 the mursena, so much esteemed by the epicures 

 of ancient Rome. The muraena (Murcena 

 Helena) can scarcely be classed among British 

 fishes, though one specimen was caught by a 

 fisherman of Polperro, in 1834. It is, however, 

 common in the Mediterranean, and is noted for 

 its voracity and the severity of its bite ; though 

 extremely beautiful in colouring, it is a hideous 

 fish, with small eyes, tumid cheeks, and wrinkled 

 skin ; its teeth are in single rows, long and 

 sharp ; the body is rounded anteriorly, com- 

 pressed and tapering towards the tail. The 

 ground colour of the anterior parts is a fine 

 yellow, of the hinder parts a rich purple, the 

 whole surface being marbled with somewhat 

 annular markings, and sprinkled with innu- 

 merable spots of white, yellow, golden, brown, 

 and purple. 



On many parts of our shores a little slender 

 eel-like fish, five or six inches in length, is very 

 common. It is termed the sand-lance, (Ammo- 

 dytes lancea^) and is of a silvery brightness. It 



