146 The Philippine Journal of Science ^3 



One East Indian species of shallow waters from Arabia to 

 China, and two deep-sea forms from the Atlantic, Pacific, and 

 Indian Oceans. . 



Jordan states in his recent work on the genera of fishes that 

 this name is of doubtful validity. 

 TJroconger lepturus (Richardson) . Plate 1, fig. 3. 



Congrus lepturus Richardson, Zool. Voyage Sulphur (1844-45) 106, 



pi. 56, figs. 1-6; Voyage Erebus and Terror, Fishes (1844) 109. 

 Uro'conger lepturus Kaup, Cat. Apod. Fishes Brit. Mus. (1856) 110; 

 Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Mursen. 4 (1864) 29, pi. 5, fig. 1; Day, 

 Fishes of India (1878-1888) 661, pi. 170, fig. 1; Jordan and Seale, 

 Bull. U. S. Bur. Fisheries 26 (1906) (1907) 6; Weber and Beau- 

 fort, Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 3 (1916) 265, figs. 113, 114. 

 Depth 20 to about 26 in total length; head 7 to 9 in length 

 and 1.5 to 1.68 in trunk; head and trunk together 2% in tail, 

 trunk alone 3.4; eye 5.5 to more than 7 in head, snout 3.8 to 

 4; mouth extends about to a perpendicular from rear margin 

 of pupil of eye, 2.7 in head; pectorals 3.5 to about 4 in head. 

 A small blunt-headed eel with subcylindrical trunk and exceed- 

 ingly elongate, slender, and laterally compressed tail which 

 tapers to a point; the broad rounded snout projects slightly 

 beyond lower jaw; dorsal begins above base of pectorals, its 

 height equal to or a little more than half the depth of body; 

 intermaxillary teeth in two transverse rows of four each, behind 

 which are two pairs of smaller teeth and a single row of very 

 small teeth on vomer which may become double posteriorly; 

 lateral line prominent, beginning on nape. 



Color uniform brown, thickly dotted with minute dark specks 

 except on sides and underpart of head where it is very pale; 

 vertical fins profusely dotted with dark specks and edged with 

 black. 



The only specimen in the Bureau of Science collection was 

 obtained in the Manila market in 1907. It has lost about 5 

 millimeters from the tip of the tail. Its present dimensions are 

 as follows: Length, 210 millimeters; head, 25; trunk, 42; tail, 

 143; depth, 8+ ; eye, 3.5; snout, 6.5; gape, 9; pectoral, 7. 



There is a fine specimen 360 millimeters long from Mindoro 

 in the museum of the University of Santo Tomas, and a speci- 

 men 12.5 inches long was noted from Manila by Jordan and 

 Seale. 



This very distinct little eel is of no economic importance ap- 

 parently, being neither abundant nor large enough to rank 

 as a food fish. It was originally described from the coast of 



