NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 355 



August 22nd, 1877. — Spotted Eel. Examined the skin 

 of the Spotted Eel taken in Bermuda by Colonel H. M. 

 Drummond-Hay. Length, from nose to end of tail, five 

 feet four inches ; breadth at base of pectoral fins, five 

 inches ; breadth at half length, four and a half inches ; 

 breadth at three-quarters length, four inches ; from snout to 

 commencement of dorsal fin, 9/2 inches ; from snout to 

 pectoral fins, six inches ; from termination of dorsal fin 

 to end of tail, 26 inches ; from termination of ventral 

 fin to end of tail, 1*5 inch; dorsal fin dried level with 

 the skin ; ventral fin, imperfect ; depth about one inch. 

 Colour of skin, orange tawny throughout. Upper portion 

 of the head thickly spotted with dark brown spots, about 

 the size of a pea. From the head, along the centre of 

 the back to the end of the tail, large, irregularly-shaped 

 spots of same colour. Two lines of large oval spots 

 run parallel to the above, along the sides from end to 

 end, the lower ones not exceeding the size of a sixpence, 

 making five rows in all ; that is, two rows on each side, in 

 addition to the dorsal line. 



This Eel was stated by Professor Goode to be Ophithys 

 iriserialis. 



While stationed at the port of Hamilton, in the Ber- 

 mudas, I sometimes looked into the wells of fishing boats 

 as they lay at the quay-side, which constituted the fish 

 market of the town. The apertures made in the bottom of 

 the boats, for the admission of sea-water, afforded sufficient 

 light to see the various kinds of fish there swimming about 

 in captivity. On one or two different occasions, or it may be 

 more, the fisherman called my attention to a very brilliant 

 specimen of the fish kind, called the " Blue Fish." It was 

 about nine inches in length, and of a dazzling blue colour. 

 Under the impression that the fish was not uncommon in 



