a ' 2 Herre: Philippine Eels 223 



a stuffed Philippine specimen in the museum of the Ateneo de 

 Manila. 



This eel attains a length of considerably over a meter, and 

 occurs from the east coast of Africa and Mauritius Island to the 

 south coast of Arabia, throughout the East Indies, and on to the 

 New Hebrides and the Paumotus. 



Gymnoiliorax chilospilus Bleeker. Plate 11, fig. 1. 



Gymnothorax chilosphilus Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Muraen. 4 (1864) 103, 



pi. 45, fig. 2. 

 Gymnothorax sagenodeta Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Muran. 4 (1864) 100, 



pi. 40, fig. 4 (not of Richardson). 

 Gymnothorax samalensis Seale, Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 4 (1909) 492. 

 Mursena chilospilus Gunther, Fische d. Sudsee 3 (1910) 415; Weber 

 and Beaufort, Fishes Indo-Austr. Arch. 3 (1916) 379, fig. 188. 

 Depth 15 to more than 19 in length in my specimens, head 7 

 to 7.7 (8.5, Weber and Beaufort) and 2 to 2.66 in trunk; tail 

 a little longer than head and trunk together, exceeding them by 

 a tenth or more, occasionally by a distance equal to 0.73 of head ; 

 eyes moderately large, circular, 8.6 to 9.6 in head, located about 

 over middle of mouth, 1.4 to 1.6 times in the rather oblong, 

 bluntly pointed snout; gape 2.3 to 2.8 in head; fins moderately 

 developed, anal low, dorsal less than half the body depth, origin 

 of dorsal slightly (rarely 0.4 the length of head) in advance of 

 gill openings, which are much narrower than width of eyes; 

 posterior nostrils small, not at all tubulate, over anterior portion 

 of pupil ; maxillary teeth small to very small, compressed, back- 

 ward pointing, eight to fourteen in number; sometimes there is 

 an inner row of two to five much longer, depressible, fanglike 

 teeth ; intermaxillary plate has an outer row of twelve to fourteen 

 teeth, largest posteriorly, the most anterior ones usually much 

 smaller; one specimen with very small teeth alternating with 

 the fourteen large ones ; three or four mesial depressible fangs, 

 first one very small, third and fourth usually very long; vomer 

 with nine to twelve small teeth in a single row, anterior ones 

 largest; ten to twenty sharp, backward-pointed teeth, with a 

 short inner row of two or three much stouter ones near tip, on 

 each side of lower jaw. 



Color in alcohol brownish to brown, with wavy, anastomosing, 

 more or less complete dark brown crossbands, more evident on 

 tail and dorsal and anal fins, sometimes practically wanting, 

 especially anteriorly ; belly and throat paler, yellowish to grayish ; 

 head brown, with a dark brown spot more or less evident at 



