GYM 
ai others which have thefe fins 
e genus, according to Bloch, is diftinguifhed by. being 
deftitute of pectoral fins, to which material character it may 
be however added, that the body is anguilliform, vifcous, 
without fcales, and variegated with very lively colours ; the 
orifice of the {piracles or breathing organs ftraight, inclinin 
ufually to a fomewhat oval form, and without either ill 
cover or membrane; the mo uth armed with {trong and 
fharp teeth ; aethrae: tubular ; Tonk the back and anal fin 
united with the tail, The {pecies of this genus are not nu- 
merous. 
Species. 
Morena. Brown, od egies with yellowifh fpots. 
Bloc h. Murena Helena, Linn 
is the Roman ee a of the ancients, a fifh 
of excellent flavour, sail cobdbrated by their writers as one 
of the moft luxurious articles of the table. The murzna is 
an inhabitant both of the frefh and falt —o though, as 
Ariftotle defcribes, it lives principally in the fea. Hirius 
was the firft among the Roman epicures zn sontin ted re- 
fervoirs for the murznz, but his example was foon followed, 
ery 
and pobsend afterwards v In thofe refervoirs the 
murene were for amufément or {port, as well as 
ufe, and were, we are aflured, rendered fometimes ta far do- 
were, 
eile, as to obey the fignal of their matter. ention of 
thefe circumftances naturally introduces to redelboal a: the 
well-known ftory of Vedius Pollio, who, as Pliny relates, was 
in the habit of caufing his offending flaves to be thrown 
his cage on murenz to be devoured ; not, as that writer 
fays, bu 8 enough on the land, but 
boo ne Bh he edi delight in feeing a man thus torn in 8 
and eaten. This Vedius Pollio was one of the favourite fol- 
rather die by any “death, than be 
emperor, aftonifhed at his ae and bein: Fen of this 
“extraordinary mode of punifhment, immediately direGted all 
i: eryttal veffels in de houfe to be broken eine the face 
of Vedius, and his refervoirs os 4 afk tape filled up, at 
fame time giving freedom flave, and only {paring 
the life of the offender in zac of his former friend- 
‘hip. 
The murzna inhabits Sosy of the European and Ame- 
‘ -Yican feas, and abounds efpec ally on the coaits of the fouth 
ier, the pre- 
cow pots . large fize, and 
ar s. It rarely — 
common fmall, teeth 3 
a el els and nd fies and and 
GYM 
‘Carewatus. Brown variegated, with white chain-hapd 
fpots or bands. Bloch. urena feu conger 
Seba. Gynothorax a bracelets, Buff. © Marbled Pith 
About ‘the fize of a {mall eel, the length being nearly 
twenty inches, and the thicknefs in proportion. The head 
is {mall, as is likewife the opening of the moutlr; the teeth 
{mall, fharp, and clofe fet ; eyes {mall and blue ; ‘nowt fur- 
nifhed at the tip with two aha {mall tages beards 
breathing apertures very fm fs pei line fearelt 
perceptible. The fpecies jabba Suri 
cia gn Ae Whitith, banded with sai fides reti- 
culated w h brown ; dorfal fin as long as the body. Bloch. 
Refembles the laft j in fize ; the head and Brg are {mall ; 
the eyes rather large, and fituated near the upper lip; teeth 
iftant and acute. A native of the Indian feas. 
<A ‘ 
nea. Ifert fj 
EBRA. 
diftant bands, meeting arepiity beneath. Shaw 
marina Sirinamenfis femina murenis valde Ste Seba. 
Length 
uIDNA. Head de epreffed ; body varied with | 
od black, ahd immediately behind the head very is 
sI 
thicknefs ten or twelve shiehee 
and much refembling a serene The head fmall 
cous ; mouth horizontal, with two cirri near the no 
eyes {mall and vivacious ; gape large ; flefh edible. 
GY ues a seme tthe DPS odal order, inft 
he chiratter of which is thus deferibed in the 
Taft edition of the laren ature :’’ Head with lateral 
compreffed ; Pench carinated The e 
racter of the genus confifts, acceding ip Bloch, in hope 
titute of a dorial fin, and this opinion prom? = 
pede and other sSnibenead authors, who o 
wants the caudal as wellas dorfal fin, and tae the o peBonl 
fin fituated near the vent. In the adoption this charatte, 
t Tapenade was conftrained to divide te "mea rede 
blifhe of 
Apteronotus_ and Notaptcna’ The effential charade 
di 
the reft i aes the tail Soesatied with 2 a a and 
dora 9 th befides et in ig Se 
The fpecies, ee of thofe cherie: = the new ve 
lait mentioned, amount to fix in number. 
; Species 
* Gyaxorus. No , Dorfal Pies 
_ Evectricus. Naked, blackith ; tail —- he 
eleGricus, Gronov. Silietei, A&G. H bath 
nots nigricans, cauda curia cbtufa, Sebs: 
Hunter. ™ 
