APODAL FISHES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. 
589 
ANALYSIS OF TUB SPECIES OF P YTI I ONICHTH YS. 
a. [Body terete, slim; the depth contained 40 times in the total length; nostrils in 
a line between eye and tip of snout, about as long as eye; lips full, each with a 
fold ; dorsal commencing a little before gill-opening ; teeth in jaws biserial ; those 
of upper jaw small and numerous, sharp-pointed ; outer row of teeth a little larger 
and less numerous than inner; inner row of teeth in lower jaw granular; teeth 
on vomer pluriserial, small ; eye very small, 6 in snout, 12 in gape ; gape 3 in head ; 
head 2 in trunk; tail 2$ times rest of body ; color, uniform blood-red] ( Poey ). 
Sanguineus,!. 
4. PYTHONICHTHYS SANGUINEUS. 
Pythonichthys sanguineus Poey, Repertorio, n, 265, lam. 2, fig. 7, 1867 tylatanzas, Cuba) ; 
Poey, Synopsis, 428, 1868 ; Poey, Enumeratio, 160, 1875. 
Murcena sanguinea Gunther, vm, 126, 1870 (copied). 
Habitat: West Indies, Cuba. 
Etymology : Latin, blood-colored. 
This species, which probably inhabits rather deep water, is known to 
us only from the accounts given by Poey. 
1 Genus 5.— GYMNOTHORAX. 
Gymnothorax Bloch, Ichthyologia, 1 795 ( reticularis ). 
Thaerodontis McClelland, Apodal Fishes of the Ganges, 1843 ( reticulata ). 
Lycodontis McClelland, 1. c. ( literata ). 
Sidera Kaup, Apodes, 70, 1856 (pfeifferi). 
Eurymyctera Kaup, 1. e., 72 ( crudelis ). 
Polyuranodon Kaup, 1. c., 9 6 (kuhli = polyuranodon). 
Priodonophis Kaup, Aalenahnliche Fische Hamburg. Museum, 22, 1859 ( ocellatus ). 
Neomuraena Girard, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., Fishes, 76, 1859 (nigromarginata — 
ocellatus). 
Pseudomuraena Johnson, Proc. Zool. Soc., 167, 1860 ( madeirensis ). 
Taeniophis Kaup, Aale Hamburg. Mus., Nachtrage, 1, 1859 (westphhli — funebris). 
Gymnothorax Gunther, vm, 100 ( reticularis , etc.). 
Sidera Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882 ( pfeifferi , etc.). 
Rabula Jordan & Davis, subgenus nova ( aquce-dulcis ). 
Type : Gymnothorax reticularis Bloch. 
Etymology : Yu t uv6c, bare ; 06 pa f, breast; from absence of pectoral fins. 
This genus, as here understood, comprises the great bulk of the 
Muramidw , including all the species with sharp teeth, the body normally 
formed, and with the anterior nostrils only tubular. Priodonophis with 
serrated teeth has been recognized as a distinct genus by Bleeker, but 
the character in question disappears by degrees and seems not to be 
suitable for generic distinction. 
The mLme GymnothoraXy first associated with a species of this genus 
and restricted to it by Dr. Giinther, seems to be available for the group, 
rather than Sidera or Thcerodontis . The name has, however, been 
usually regarded as synonymous with Murccna, rather than as a dis- 
tinct genus. 
The Morays of this genus are everywhere abundant in the tropical 
seas, where some of them reach a great size. For those species, some 
8 or 10 in number, which have the dorsal liu inserted behind the head, 
