332," PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIONfc. [aNNO J 76<J. 



more than two different species of this fish are found at Batavia. The first and 

 rarest kind is that he sent before. 



This second species* is Sciaena Jaculatrix, quinque maculata, pinnis ventralibus 

 adnatis, maxilla inferiore longiore. Locus. Mare Indicum. Magnitudo cy- 

 prini rutili. 



XXII. Of an jimphibious Bipes, by John Ellis, Esq. F. R. S. p. ISQ. 



Mr. E. received in the summer of 1765, two specimens of a remarkable kind 

 of animal-f- from Dr. Alex. Garden, of Charlestown, Carolina, who says, it is 

 evidently a new genus not yet noticed by naturalists, and that it appears to come 

 between the Murana and the Lacerta. The natives call it by the name of Mud- 

 Inguana. It is found in swampy and muddy places, by the sides of pools, under 

 the trunks of old trees that hang over the water. 



The lesser specimen, which was preserved in spirits, measured about 9 inches 

 in length ; and appeared to be a very young state of the animal, from the fin of 

 the tail and the opercula or coverings of the gills being not extended to their full 

 size. These opercula, in their then state, consisted each of 3 indented lobes, 

 hiding the gills from view, and placed just above the two feet. These feet ap- 

 peared like little arms and hands, each furnished with 4 fingers, and each finger 

 with a claw. 



In the large specimen, which was about 31 inches long, the head is something 

 like an eel, but more compressed : the eyes small, and placed as those of the eel 

 are ; in this they are scarcely visible : this smallness of the eye best suits an animal 

 that lives so much in mud. The nostrils are very plainly to be distinguished ; 

 these, with the gills and the remarkable length of the lungs, show it to be a true 

 amphibious animal. The mouth is small in proportion to the body ; but its 

 palate and inside of the lower jaw are well provided with many rows of pointed 

 teeth ; with this provision of nature, added to the sharp exterior bony edges of 

 both the upper and under jaw, the animal seems capable of biting and grinding 

 the hardest kind of food. The skin, which is black, is full of small scales, re- 

 sembling chagrin. These scales are of different sizes and shapes according to 

 their situation, but all appear sunk into its gelatinous surface : those along the 

 back and belly are of an oblong oval form, and close set together : in the other 

 parts, they are round and more distinct. Both the sides are mottled with small 

 white spots, and have two distinct lines composed of small white streaks, conti- 



• This is the Sicena jaculatrix of the Gmeliniai» edition of the Systetna Naturae, and the Labnu 

 jaculator of Shaw's General Zoology. 



+ This celebrated animal, the Siren lacertina of LinnaeuSj which has by many naturalists been 

 considered as the larva of some large species of lizard, is now allowed to constitute a distinct genus, 

 of which some other species have been discovered. 



