MALACOPTERYGII APODES. 229 



CONGER, Cuv. 



The dorsal commencing 1 close to the pectorals, or even on them; the up- 

 per jaw longest in all the known species. 



Mur. conger, L. (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. 



Thunb. 



The Mursenae, 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 branch ioste gal rays so slender and concealed under the skin, that able 

 naturalists have denied their existence. 



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

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

 The history of Vssdius Pollio, who caused his transgressing slaves to be 

 flung alive into these ponds as food for the Muranae, is well known. It at- 

 tains 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 Muraenag that should 

 be placed a newly discovered fish) which is one of the most singular 

 of the whole class; I mean the 



SACCOPHARYNX, Mitch. 



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, Lin.(l) 



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

 fore the pectorals. 



G. electricus, L. (The Electrical Gymnotus); which, from its almost uni- 

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

 It is from five to six feet long, and communicates such violent shocks that 



(1) Gymnotus, or, properly speaking, Gymnonotus (Bare-back), a name 

 given to these fishes by Artedi. 



