MALACOPTERYGII APODES. 219 



ANGUILLA. 



Eels are distinguished by the two-fold character of pectoral fins and of 

 branchiae opening under them on each side. 



CONGER, Cuvier. 



The dorsal commencing close to the pectorals, or even on them ; the upper 

 jaw longest in all the known species. 



Mur. conger, Lin. (The Conger Eel.) Found in all the seas of Europe; 

 it attains the length of five or six feet, and the thickness of a man's leg; dorsal 

 and anal edged with black ; lateral line dotted with whitish. It is not in much 

 request for the table. 



MURJENA, Thunberg. 



The MurtEius, properly so called, have no vestige of pectorals ; their bran- 

 chiae open on each side by a small hole ; their opercula are so thin, and their 

 branchiostigal rays so slender and concealed under the skin, that able natural- 

 ists have denied their existence. 



M. helena, Lin. Common in the Mediterranean ; a fish much esteemed by 

 the ancients, who fed it in ponds expressly constructed for that purpose. 

 The history of Vaedius Pollio, who caused his transgressing slaves to be 'flung 

 alive into these ponds as food for the Muraenae, is well known. It attains a 

 length of three feet and more, is mottled with brown and yellowish, and is 

 excessively voracious. 



It is immediately after this great genus of the Muraenae that should be 

 placed a newly discovered fish, which is one of the most singular of the whole 

 class; I mean the 



SACCOPHARYNX, Mitchell, 



Whose trunk, susceptible of being so inflated as to resemble a thick tube, 

 terminates in a very long and slender tail, surrounded by an extremely low 

 dorsal and anal, which unite at its point. The mouth, armed with sharp 

 teeth, opens far behind the eyes, which are placed close to the very short point 

 of the snout. The branchial aperture consists in a hole under the pectorals, 

 which are very small. 



This fish attains a large size, and appears to be voracious. It has only 

 been seen in the Atlantic Ocean, floating on the surface by the dilatation of its 

 throat. 



GYMNOTUS, Linnceus*. 



The gills partly so closed by a membrane, as in Anguilla, but opening before 

 the pectorals. 



G. electricus, Lin. (The Electrical Gymnotus), which from its almost 

 uniform shape and obtuse head and tail, has also been called the Electrical Eel. 



* Gymnotus, or properly speaking, Gymnanotus (Bear-back), a name given to these 

 fishes bv Artcdi. 



