i^<5 THE MURiENA. 



^he Murana *, 



J HIS fpecies, we are told, obtained its name from its coa^ 

 tinually floating upon the furface of the water, by rcafon, 

 as was fuppofed, of its extraordinary fatnefs f . In fiiape 

 it refembles an eel ; the fnout more protuberant, fliarp 

 and comprefled : Its colour variegated with Diades of yel- 

 low, brown, and black. The head is fmall, but the o? 

 pening of the mouth capacious. The margin of each 

 jaw is furrounded with a fingle row of very fmall teeth : 

 upon the fnout there are two apertures, and above the 

 eyes other two ; the former, as is fuppofed, are the organs 

 of fmell, and the latter of hearing J. The ancients be- 

 lieved that this animal was endowed with a very acute 

 fenfe of hearing, and cnat the fifliermen could allure it to 

 the brmk of the water by hiffing, and by that means 

 take i*: \. 



Like the other fifties of this genus, it wants the peftoral 

 and ventral fins ; but a little beyond the head there ari- 

 fes a fin, which flretehes along the back to the tail, and 

 turns round to the belly, terminating at the anus : This 

 fin is covered with the common legument of the body, 

 and is eafily laid bare by flaying the animal. 



The bite of the niuraena was deemed fo poifonous by 

 the fifhermen, that in taking the animal, they ufed every 

 precaution to prevent its effects : They tumbled them im- 

 mediately 



• Muraena omnium autftorum. Will. IchthyoL 



f Tiuoa. TO fivouv. Vide Macrob. 



^ Will. J). 103. § Plinii. Hift, Nat. 



