674 PHTSOSTOMI. 



Length, of head 1/4 of the distance between the end of the snont and the vent : tail ahout 1/3 longer 

 than body. Eyes — of moderate size, placed about midway between angle of mouth and end of the snout. 

 Length of cleft of mouth 3^ in the length of the head. Gill-opening small, scarcely so large as the eye. 

 Teeth — with rounded crowns, the form changing considerably with age. Fins — dorsal rudimentary, 

 commencing a little behind the vertical from the branchial opening. Golows — deep brown, encircled with fine 

 narrow, 25-30 (yeUow) whole or half bands, which usually increase in width as they descend. 



A beautiful figure, 17i inches in length, marked, BudidS pdm, natural size, exists in Sir W. Elliot's 

 collection of drawings of Madras fish. 



Habitat. — Eed Sea, through the seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and the Pacific. 



20. Mursena nigra, Plate CLXXI, fig. 3. 



Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 702. 



Length of head 4|- in the distance between the end of the snout and the vent : tail nearly 1/2 of the 

 total length. Eyes — situated nearer to the snout than to the angle of the mouth, small, diameter half that of 

 the snout : anterior tubular nostril of moderate length. Gill-opening about as wide as the eye. Cleft of 

 mouth equals 1/3 of length of the head : the mouth cannot be completely closed. Teeth — biserial, except 

 in the mandible where there are three rows in some places, all are obtuse except the inner maxillary row, 

 which are poiuted and finer than the outer row : premaxillary and vomerine teeth of equal size and with 

 globular heads : mandibles with about 20 teeth in either side. Fins — dorsal and anal moderately developed : 

 the former commencing just behind a vertical line from the gill-opening, and half as high as the body. 

 Golowrs — uniform black, no light edge to the fins. 



Habitat. — Andamans. This specimen, 16 inches long, was discovered alive under a large stone at low 

 water at Port Blair. 



Genus 10 — Gtmnomtjejina, Lacepede. 



Mwcenoblenna, Lacep. ; lohthyophis. Lesson : Uropterygius, Riipp. : Channomurcena, Richardson. 



Gill-openings of moderate width or narrow. Two pairs of nostrils on the upper surface of the snout, the 

 posterior being a rownd foramen, or with a short tube. Teeth small, pointed, and numerous. Fins absent except a 

 rudimentary one round the end of the tail. Scales absent. 



Geographical distribution. — Indian and Pacific Oceans. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



1. Gymnomurcena tigrina — Tail nearly twice as long as trunk. Brownish, with dark blotches. East 

 coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. Gymnomurcena marmorata — Tail rather longer than trunk. Gray marbled with arborescent dark 

 -lines. Andamans to the Malay Archipelago. 



1. Gymnomurasna tigrina. 



Ichthyophis tigrinus. Lesson, Mem. Soc. d'Hist. Nat. Paris, iv, p. 399, and Voy. Coq. Zool. ii, p. 129, 

 Atl. Poiss. t. xii, : Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 336 ; Richard. Erebus and Terror, Fish. p. 96 ; Bleeker, Ichthyoph. 

 p. 463. 



Murcenoblenna tigrina, Bleeker, Amboina, p. 93. 



Gymnomwroina tigrina, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. iv, p. 113, t. clxv, f. 3 ; Kner, Novara Fische, p. 307 ; Gunther, 

 Catal. viii, p. 133. 



Length of head 4-J^ iu the distance between the end of the snout and the vent : tail nearly twice as long 

 as the body. Fyes—svaa.W.. Posterior nostril slightly tubular in the adult. Extent of cleft of mouth 2^ in 

 the length of the head. Teeth — no distinct canines : the maxillary and anterior mandibular ones in two rows. 

 ^Colours — brownish, with various sized irregularly shaped or rounded black spots and blotches. 



Habitat. — East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. There is an 

 example in the British Museum from the Mauritius, 4 feet in length. 



2. Gymnomursena marmorata, Plate CLXXIT, fig. 5. 



Lacep. V, pp. 648, 660 ; Gunther, Catal. viii, p. 133. 



Ichthyophis pantherinus. Less. Voy. Coq. Poiss. ii, p. 131, Atl. t. xiii ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 336 ; 

 Bleeker, Ichthyoph. p. 464. 



Gymnomurcena poAtherina, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. iv, p. 113, t. clxxv, f. 3. 



Mwcena micropterus, Bleeker, Moluk. p. 298, and Mur. p. 50 (young). 



Vropterygius xanthopterus, Bleeker, Java, p. 350 (young). 



GymnommcBna macrocephalus, Bleeker, Mur. p. 54, and Atl. Ich. iv, p. 114, t. 165, f. 2 (young). 



Gymnomurcena xanthopterus and micropterus, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. iv, p. 114, 115, t. 184, f . 4, and 164, fig. 2 ; 

 Kner, Novara Fische, p. 388. > i- , , > , .S> 



