208 BEARDLESS OPHID1UM. Class IV. 



GENUS XIX. OPHIDIUM. 



Head rather naked. 



Teeth in the jaws, palate, and throat. 



Gills, aperture of, large. 



Body ensiform. 



1. Beard- Ophidium imberbe. Oph.max- Br. Zool. App. iii. 3QB. 



less. illis imberbibus cauda obtu- Shaw Gen. Zool. iv. part i. p. 



siuscula. Gm. Lin. 1147. 70. 



Faun. Suec. 3ig. L'Ophidie imberbe. De la 



Ophidium cirris carens. Arted. Cepede Hist, des Poissons, 



Syn. pise. 42. ii. 281. 



Ophidium alteram flavum et Montagu in Mem. Wern. Soc. 



imberbe, Raii Syn. pise. Q5. tai. 4. f. 2. 

 3g. W'%1. ichth. 113. 



TIOK. 



Descrip- [THE Beardless Ophidium was first added to 

 the catalogue of British fishes, by Mr. Pen- 

 ?iant, to whom it was communicated by the 

 Dutchess of Portland ; the specimen was found 

 near TVeymouth, and a figure of it given in the 

 Appendix to the Zoology, unaccompanied by 

 any description. 



Mr. Montagu thus describes one of this rare 

 species, which was taken on the southern coast 

 of Devonshire. 



Its length was about three inches ; its depth 

 did not exceed a quarter of an inch. The pec- 



