446 



TUBE-BLADDERED GROUP. 



on which they feed. " Large specimens thus armed," writes Dr. Giinther, " readily 

 attack persons in and out of the water ; and as some species attain a length of 

 6 or 8 feet, they are justly feared by fishermen. The minority of species have 

 obtuse and molar-like teeth, their food consisting chiefly of crustaceans and other 

 hard-shelled animals. Most of the muraenas are beautifully coloured and spotted, 

 some in a regular and constant manner, whilst in others the pattern varies in a 

 most irregular fashion ; they have quite the appearance of snakes." The figured 

 species, which ranges from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and Australia, 

 has the ground-colour a rich brown, upon which are large yellowish spots, each 

 dotted with smaller spots of brown. The finless muraenas (Gymnomurcena), of 

 which half a dozen species have been described from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, 

 differ in the reduction of the fins to a rudiment near the end of the tail. 



True Eels. 



MEDITERRANEAN MUR.KNA (i nat. size). 



The typical eels, familiar to all in the form of the common 

 European species {Anguilla vulgaris), agree with the great majority 

 of the family in having the gill-openings into the pharynx as wide slits. The 

 skin contains small scales embedded in its substance ; the upper jaw does not 

 project beyond the lower; the small teeth are arranged in bands; the narrow 

 external gill-openings are situated at the base of the well-developed pectoral fins, 

 and the dorsal fin commences at a considerable distance behind the back of the 

 head. Eels, of which there are numerous species, appear to be distributed throughout 

 the fresh waters of the habitable portions of the globe, being reputed to be absent 

 only from those of the Arctic regions, and probably also from cold elevated 

 districts like Turkestan and Tibet. The common European eel is spread over 

 the greater part of Europe and the Mediterranean area — although unknown in the 

 Danube — and reappears in the United States. The so-called grig, or glat-eel, 

 characterised by its lighter colour, broader head, and snout, and the more backward 



