SHARP-NOSED EEL. 295 



In a sliarp-nosed Eel of twenty-two inches in length, 

 three distances taken from the point of the lower jaw are to 

 the whole length of the Eel as follows : — to the upper part of 

 the base of the pectoral fin, as two to seventeen ; to the com- 

 mencement of the dorsal fin, as two to seven ; and to the com- 

 mencement of the anal fin, as nine to twenty-two. In a sharp- 

 nosed Eel of twenty inches in length, the pectoral fin will 

 be almost one inch, and the vent more than an inch, nearer 

 the head than the same parts in a broad-nosed Eel of the 

 same length. 



The head is compressed, the top convex, depressed as it 

 slopes forward : the eyes small, placed immediately over the 

 angles of the mouth ; irides reddish yellow : the jaws very 

 narrow, slightly rounded at the end ; the lower jaw the long- 

 est : nostrils with two openings on each side, one tubular, 

 the other a simple orifice ; both jaws furnished with a narrow 

 band of small teeth ; gape small ; various mucous pores 

 about the mouth and other parts of the head ; gill-open- 

 ing a small aperture immediately before and rather below 

 the origin of the pectoral fin ; the scales on the body rather 

 small : dorsal fin extending over more than two-thirds of the 

 whole length of the fish ; anal fin occupying more than half 

 of the whole length ; both united at the end, forming a 

 tail ; the number of rays in the fins not easily ascertained, 

 from the thickness of the skin ; the lateral line exhibits a 

 long series of mucous orifices ; vertebrse 113. The vent 

 includes four distinct openings, the most anterior of which 

 leads upwards to the intestine, the posterior to the urinary 

 bladder in a direction backwards, and one elongated lateral 

 opening on each side communicating with the cavity of the 

 abdomen, as in other bony fishes. 



The cranium on the right hand of the three, figured at 

 page 803, is that of the sharp-nosed Eel. 



