254 PHYSOSTOMI. 



Genus III — MuR-ENA, sp. Artedi. 



Gymnothorax, Bloch. MurcenopMs, Lacepede. Echidna, Forster. Thcerodontis, 

 Sirophidon and Lycodontis, McClelland. Sidera, Eurymyctera, Thysoidea, Lima- 

 murcena, Polyuranodon, PcecilopMs, Gymnomurcena, Priodonophis and Tceniophis, 

 Kaup. Pseudomurcena, Johnson. 



Body moderately or exceedingly elongated. Gill-openings narrow slits. A tubular 

 nostril on either side of the upper surface of the snout : the posterior nostril a round 

 orifice opposite the antero-superior edge of the eye, while it may or may not be 

 furnished with a tube. Teeth well developed, and either acute or molariform : the 

 maxillary teeth may be in one or two rows. Dorsal fin elevated, or not so ; the end of 

 the tail surrounded by fin, and is occasionally rudimentary : pectorals absent. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of temperate and tropical regions, some species 

 ascending tidal rivers. One form has been captured off our coast. The spotted 

 sea-eel, Ophisurus ophis, an inhabitant of the Indian Ocean, was included by 

 Merret (Pinax, p. 185), subsequently by Sibbald (Scot. 23), and also by Berken- 

 hout (Syn. i, p. 185) among the British fish, but the authority in all is omitted. 

 It may, however, have been due to the capture of a Murcena helena at some 

 antecedent date. 



The dentition of these fish alters considerably with age, while it is not always 

 identical in every individual of the same species. They are reputed to attack 

 fishermen and others when in the water, a character, Mr. Carrington (Zoologist, 

 September, 1876) thinks, they do not deserve. 



1. Mursena helena, Plate CXLIIL 



Mvpaiva, Aristotle, i, c. 5, etc. ; ^Elian. i, c. 22, etc. ; Athen. lib. vii. 



Murcena, Pliny, ix, c. 16, 19, 20, 23, 54, 55, and xxxii, c. 2, 5, 7 and 8 ; Belon. 

 p. 158 ; Rondel, xiv, c. v, p. 402 ; Salvian. pp. 59, 60 ; Willughby, Hist. Pise, 

 p. 103, t. Gl ; Aldrov. iii, c. 27, pp. 356, 357 ; Artedi, Sp. no. 6, Synon. p. 41 ; 

 Gronov. Zoo. no. 164. Conger, Klein, Pise, iii, p. 28. 



Murcena helena, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 425 ; Briin. Pise. Mass. p. 11 ; Bloch, Ich. 

 p. 993, t. cliii; Gmel. Linn. p. 1132; Bonn. Ency. Ich. p. 33, pi. xxiii, f . 79; 

 Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 366 and Bur. Merid. iii, p. 189 ; Costa, Fauna Nap. Pesc. pi. 

 xxviii, f . 3 ; Jenyns, Manual, p. 479 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fishes (ed. 1) ii, p. 308, c. fig. 

 (ed. 2) ii, p. 406 (ed. 3) i, p. 73 ; Guichen, Explor. Alger. Poiss. p. 114; Gronov. 

 ed. Gray, p. 18 ; Richardson, Voy. Erebus and Terror. Ich. p. 80, pi. xlix, f. 1-6 ; 

 Kaup, Apodal Fish, p. 55 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 96 ; Canestrini, Fauna 

 d'ltalia, p. 202 ; Giglioli, Faun. Ital. Pesc. p. 48 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, iii, 

 p. 575, f. 209. 



MurcenopMs helence, Lacep. v, p. 631 ; White, Catal. p. 113. 



Gymnothorax murcena, Bl. Schn. p. 525. 



Murcena romana, Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 26. 



Murcena guttata, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii, p. 191. 



Murcena, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 335, pi. ccxxxvii ; Carrington, 

 Zoologist, 1876, p. 5053. 



D, C, and A = 552, Vert. 140-143. 



Height of body varying from 9 to 12 or more times in the total length and the 

 length of the head about 7 to 12 in the same distance. Eye — diameter about ^ in 

 the length of the head and 3 diameters from the end of the snout. Anteriorly the 

 body of this fish is rounded, becoming flattened posteriorly : its skin is very thick, 

 snout pointed, the cleft of the mouth deep and extending behind the eye : the upper 

 jaw rather longer than the lower. A row of pores along both jaws. Both nostrils 

 tubular, the anterior the longer. Teeth — in a single row, strong, compressed and 



