Class IV. BEARDLESS OPHIDIUM. 209 



toral fin was furnished with eleven rays, the 

 dorsal with about seventy- seven, the anal with 

 forty-four, and the tail with eighteen or twenty; 

 the head was obtuse ; the eyes large and placed 

 forward ; the body ensiform, and considerably 

 compressed toward the tail; the lateral line 

 obscure ; the pectoral fin rounded ; the dorsal 

 fin commenced near the head, and with the 

 anal continued and united to the tail; the 

 mouth, when closed, inclined obliquely up- 

 wards ; the lip marginated ; the gill mem- 

 branes inflated beneath. The color purplish 

 brown, disposed in minute speckles ; the fins 

 the same, except the pectoral and caudal, the 

 first of which is pale, the last yellowish. * Ed. 



* Montagu in Mem. JVern. Soc. Q5. 



VOL. III. 



