FAMILY X— MUR^NID^. 665 



respire from tliat contained in the water. If its gill-openings are kept firmly closed, it takes in air by its 

 moutli : should its mouth be kept shut it struggles until released so as to be able to respire. If the gills are 

 exposed by removing the gill-membranes, it slowly moves its branchiae, and is able to respire without taking in 

 air by the mouth. 



Hahitat—Se&s and estuaries of India and Malay Archipelago, ascending large rivers to far above tidal 

 reach. It attains to at least 24 inches inches in length. 



3. Ophichthys miorocephalus, Plate CLXX, fig. 2. 



Length of head from 7| to 8 in the distance between the end of the snout and the vent : tail nearly 

 twice as long as trunk (1|-). Eyes — of moderate size, situated behind the middle of the distance between the 

 snout and angle of the mouth. Extent of cleft of mouth from end of snout equal to 3^ in the length of the 

 head. Anterior tubular nostrils well-developed. Teeth — obtusely conical and in three rows. Fins— low, the 

 . dorsal commences over the last third of the pectoral fin, neither it nor the anal is continued round the end of the 

 tail. Pectoral 85 to 3^ in the length of the head. Golov/rs—oliye above, becoming of a dull yellow on the 

 sides and beneath : fins externally stained with dark. 



Habitat. — Three examples, none less than 25 inches in length, were captured in Malabar. 



3. Ophichthys colubrinus, Plate CLXVII, fig. 4. 



Murcena eolulrina, Boddaert, in Pallas's Neue Nord. Beytr. ii, 1781, p. 66, pi. 2, fig. 3. 

 Murcena annulata and fasciata, Ahl, De Mursena et Ophichtho. 1789, pp. 8, 9, tab. 1, fig. 1. 

 Oymnothorax annulatus, fasoiatus and colubrinus, Bl. Schn. pp. 527, 529. 



Ojphisurus fasoiatus, Lacep. iv, p. 686; Richards. Ereb. and Terr. Fish. p. 100; Bleek. Atl. Ichthyol. iv, 

 p. 64, tab. 165, fig. 1 ; Kner, Novara Fische, p. 379. 



Ophisums alternans, Quoy and Gaim. Voy. Uran. i, p. 243, pi. 45, fig. 2. 



Ophisurus colubrinus, Richai'ds. 1. c. p. 100 ; Bleek. Banda, p. 106. 



Ophithorax colubrina, McClell. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist, v, p. 212 (not Synon). 



Pisoodonophis fasciatvs, Kaup, Apod. p. 23. 



Ophichthys colubrinus, Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 81 : Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 610. 



" B. XXV, circ. D. 510, circ. A. 318, circ. P. 10, circ." Bleeker. 



Length of head 8 to 9 times in the distance between the end of the snout and the vent : length of trunk 

 about equal to that of the tail : snout projecting. Extent of cleft of mouth equals about 2/7 to 1/4 of the 

 length of the head. Eyes — rather small, situated behind the middle of the cleft of the mouth. Snout rather 

 pointed. Teeth — with rounded crowns and in two rows. Fins — the dorsal fin commences in front of the gill- 

 opening just behind the nape : it and the anal are rather low ■ pectoral rudimentary. Colours — ^numerous (25 

 to 35) brown rings surround the body. In some examples a dark round spot exists in the interspace between 

 each ring on the body. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, Andamans to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. 



&. — Teeth pointed and in a single row : pectoral fins absent. 



4. Ophichthys Orientalis, Plate CLXXI, fig. 1. 



Murcena, Russell, Fish. Vizag. i, p. 26, and Manti-buharo-paumu, pi. 37. 



Dalophis Orientalis, McClelland, Gal. Journ. Nat. Hist. 1845, v, p. ai3 ; Jerdon, M. J. Lit. and Science, 

 1851, p. 161. 



Lamnosioma pictum, Kaup, Apodal Fish. p. 23, f. 11. 



Sphagehranchus Orientalis, Kner, Novara Fische, p. 380. 



Ophichthys Orientalis, Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 87. 



Length of head 3i to 4 in the distance between the end of the snout and the anus : tail as long as the 

 trunk. JE?2/es— small, placed rather behind the middleiof the length of the head. Gill-openings are longitudinal 

 slits almost parallel one to the other. Snout projecting, extending beyond the lower jaw, and the openings of 

 the nostrils on the lower surface. Teei/i —pointed and in a single row. Fins— the dorsal commences at a short 

 distance behind the gill-openings, it and the anal being low : pectorals absent. Oolours—olive becoming lightest 

 beneath : one or two rows of round whitish spots across the occiput, having a short, forward directed line of 

 similar spots on either side. 1 • i 



" Very common at Madras. The boys catch it at the edge of the surf by bruisiag a crab m their hands 

 and throwing it into the water, then walking about over the spot, and when they feel an eel about their feet 

 they stoop down and suddenly dash it on to the sand with both hands. If thrown on the moist sand they 

 burrow themselves, ia*7/ore»io«4, almost instantaneously." — (Jerdon). 



Habitat— Seas and estuaries of Ceylon and up the Bay of Bengal, certainly as high as Orissa. It 

 attains at least a foot in length. 



5. Ophichthys ornatissimus. 



Herpetoichthys ornatissimus, Kaup, Apodal Fish. p. 7, f. 5. 



Ophichthys ornatissimus, Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 67 ; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 67. 



4 Q 



