278 Mr. J. Y. Johnson on rare and little-known 



of Saccopharynx flagellum. On referring to these descriptions, 

 I am led ta think that, although the three fishes fall into the 

 same genus, the Madeiran fish is specifically distinct from that 

 forming the subject of Dr. Mitchill^s memoir, but is perhaps 

 specifically identical with Dr. Harwood's fish. I will first de- 

 scribe the specimen obtained at Madeira (which now forms part 

 of the rich collection in the British Museum), and then make 

 some remarks on the relationship of the three. 



The Madeiran fish is 32 inches in length. It has a thin, soft, 

 scaleless skin, which is jet-black. From its narrow elongated 

 form, and from the absence of ventral fins, it would be referred, 

 at the first glance, to the Eels ; but from that tribe it is distinctly 

 separated by the structure of its singular jaws. The upper jaw 

 is apparently composed of the maxillary or premaxillary — bones 

 which are invariably wanting in the tribe of true Eels. The 

 bones of both jaws are slender and curved ; those of the under 

 jaw meet at an acute angle in front, and they are armed with a 

 single row of small, sharp, delicate teeth, similar to those of the 

 upper jaw, but rather more numerous. There are no teeth oh 

 the palatine bones or elsewhere in the mouth. 



The gape is of enormous extent ; and the animal had the power 

 of throwing down the lower jaw until it was almost in a line with 

 the upper, the two being subequal, and 2j inches in length. 

 There is no tongue in the mouth, nor are there any branch io- 

 stegal rays. A conical snout projects nearly four-tenths of an 

 inch beyond the upper lip ; and the small oval eye, which is co- 

 vered with skin, is placed on the head not far from the base of 

 the snout. In front of each eye is a single small nostril, which 

 does not issue in a tube. 



The gill-openings are small slits, seven-tenths of an inch in 

 length, on the underside of the body, placed only one-sixth of 

 an inch apart, and at a distance of about 3 J inches from the tip 

 of the snout. What is very remarkable about these apertures 

 is that, within the lips of each, the opposite sides are connected 

 by three narrow cutaneous bauds — two near the anterior end of 

 the aperture, and one near the posterior end. 



The minute pectoral fins are placed immediately behind the 

 gill-openings, but a little above them. Each is about one-fifth 

 of an inch in length, and has about thirty-two delicate rays. In 

 reference to the pectoral fins of the fish described by Dr. Har- 

 wood, he mentions that they were principally composed of an 

 adipose disk terminated and nearly surrounded by the rayed 

 portion of the fin. In my fish I do not see anything of this 

 kind; but that may be owing to the specimen being young. 



A low dorsal fin, having extremely slender rays, commences 

 in front of the vent, and at a distance of about 7\ inches from 



