222 The Philippine Journal of Science 1923 



and the Red Sea to the Riu Kiu Islands, Hawaii, Australia, and 

 everywhere among the South Sea Islands ; abundant throughout 

 its range. 



Gymnothorax favagineus Bloch and Schneider. Plate 11, fig. 2. 

 Gymnothorax favagineus Bloch and Schneider, Syst. Ichth. (1801) 



Gymnothorax isingteena Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Muram. 4 (1864) 92, 



pi. 37, fig. 1. 

 Gymnothorax tessellatus Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Muram. 4 (1864) 93, 



pi. 27, fig. 3; pi. 28, fig. 1. 

 Mursena tessellata Gunther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus. 8 (1870) 106. 

 Gymnothorax favageneus Jordan and Seale, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fisheries 



25 (1905) (1906) 199. 

 Mursena favaginea Weber and Beaufort, Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 3 



(1916) 378, fig. 187. 



Depth 15.5 to 21.5 in total length; head 7.5 to 9 in length and 

 2.75 to 3 in trunk; tail a little longer or a little shorter than 

 head and trunk together ; eye 10 to 12 in head and twice in snout ; 

 the wide mouth 2£ to 2.5 in head; length of anterior nostril 

 tube about twice in eye ; origin of dorsal 0.657 the length of head 

 from snout; height of dorsal over middle of trunk nearly equal 

 to half depth of body; anal much less developed than dorsal; 

 maxillary teeth in one row, rather small and uniform in size, 

 compressed, pointed, directed backwards, about fifteen in each 

 jaw, the first one larger and caniniform; a single series of 

 canines forms a row around margin of maxillary plate, with 

 three much larger depressible canines forming a central row; 

 these separated by a gap and then a row of very small teeth down 

 vomer, about eight in number ; fifteen or more teeth on each side 

 of mandible, first pair small, followed by three pairs of large ones, 

 the remaining teeth medium sized, all pointed and directed 

 backward. 



A very well defined species of handsome and distinct colora- 

 tion, separating into well-marked varieties ; in the variety ising- 

 teena the whole animal is covered with large rounded or polygonal 

 black spots which are separated by distinct interspaces of the 

 pale whitish or yellowish olive ground color, the spots mostly 

 wider than interspaces; the variety favageneus has the spots 

 separated by narrow lines, the ground color being reduced to a 

 broad network around the spots. 



I have examined one alcoholic specimen from Manila, belong- 

 ing to the variety isingteena, with dimensions as follows : Length, 

 540 millimeters; head, 70; trunk, 195; tail, 575. There is also 



