642 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF* FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Genus 23. — ECHELUS. 
Echelus Rafinesque, Caratteri di Alcuni Generi., 64, 1810 (in part, includes species 
of Conger, Ophisoma, etc.). 
Myrus Kaup, Apodes 31, 1856, ( vulgaris=myrus ). 
Echelus Bleeker, Atlas Ichth. Murines, 30, 1864 {myrus). 
Type : Echelus punctatus Rafiuesque= M urcena myrus L. (as restricted 
by Bleeker). 
Etymology: eel, properly spelled Enchelys. 
This genus contains two species, both of the eastern Atlantic, eels of 
larger size than the others of the family. 
We follow Bleeker in using the name Echelus instead of Myrus . The 
genus Echelus as originally proposed included species of Leptocephalus , 
Ophisoma , Ophisurus , and Myrus. It has priority over Ophisoma and 
Myrus , of which Myrus is the more recent. 
ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIES OF ECHELUS. 
a . [Pectoral long, 2f in head ; dorsal fin commencing behind tip of pectoral ; body 
elongate ; tail f of total length ; head 4£ in the trunk ; eye 2 in the snout, which 
is 3 in the head ; cleft of mouth extending behind hinder margin of eye ; dorsal 
inserted as much behind gill-openings as gill-openings are behind the eye; 
lateral line distinct. Color gray ; fins paler; gill-openings black.] {Vaillant). 
Pachyrhynchus, 87. 
aa. Pectoral moderate, 3£ in the head ; dorsal commencing a little in front of the top 
of the pectoral : head 2f in the trunk, 5 in the tail ; eye in the, snout, which 
is a little more than 4 in the head ; gape of mouth 3 in the head, extending 
almost to the hinder margin of the eye ; gill-openings 2 in the isthmus. Uniform 
brown, darker on the opercular regions; two rows of small light-colored spots 
extend from the front of the dorsal fin forwards ; a light band across the head, 
in front of which are several other shorter bands, running both longitudinally 
and transversely ; snout with several small, irregular, whitish blotches ; vertical 
fins posteriorly, with the edge darkest ; gill-openings light-colored.. .Myrus, 88. 
87. ECHELUS PACHYKHYNCHUS. 
Myrus pachyrhynchus Vaillant, Exp. Travailleur et Talisman, 81, pi. v, fig. 1, la, 16, 
1888 (Morocco ; Cape Verde Islands). 
Habitat: Deep waters of the Mediterranean and adjacent seas. 
Etymology : Ila/uq, thick ; ''puyxos, snout. 
This species is known from the account given by Vaillant. 
88. ECHELUS MYRUS. 
Serpens marinus alter Willughby, 108, 1686 (Mediterranean Sea). 
Mnrcena rostro acuto Artedi, Genera, 1738 (based on Willughby). 
Murcena myrus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, 225 (based on Artedi and of the copyists). 
Lamurcena myre Lac^pbde, Hist. Nat. Poiss., II, pi. 3, fig. 3, 1798. 
Echelus punctatus Rafinesque, Caratteri, 65, 18L0 (Sicily). 
Murcena longicollis Cuvier, Rbgne Animal, 313, 1828 (no description; based on 
Lac6p&de). 
Myrus vulgaris Kaup, Apodes, 31, fig. 14, 1856 ; Gunther, viii, 50, 1870, and of Eu- 
ropean writers generally. 
