LEPTORHYNCHUS CAPENSIS. 



the remainder short, nearly straight, and closely set. The lateral teeth 

 with which the point of the upper jaw is armed are unequal in size, some at 

 its very apex. In the lower jaw there are no teeth directly in front, the first 

 of each side being a little behind the apex, it is the longest of the series, 

 and distant from the next nearly one line ; the second is smaller, yet larger 

 than those which succeed, and which nearly resemble in form and arrange- 

 ment those of the upper jaw. 



The gills are fixed on cartilaginous rami, in which respect as well as in 

 many others this fish differs from Anguilla, Murcena, Sfc. The oesophagus is 

 strong, internally marked with many longitudinal rugoe ; the coats of the 

 stomach are thin, and the inner one when not distended, has also irregular rudi- 

 mentary folds. The length of the stomach is not in the same proportion as in 

 murcena, its lower termination being far in advance of the anus. The intesti- 

 nal canal proceeds from near the cardiac orifice, and forms no convolutions ; 

 it is nearly of equal calibre throughout, and closely intersected towards the 

 rectum by rudimentary transverse septce ; the rectum is open and unobstructed. 

 The liver is short in proportion when compared with that of Murcena, but 

 not very different from that of Anguilla ; it is of an irregular oblong form 

 and placed upon the upper extremity of the stomach immediately over the 

 pyloric orifice. The gall bladder is small and situated on the side of the 

 liver near its inferior extremity, and the gall duct enters the intestinal canal 

 a little below the pylorus. The spleen is long, slender, and slightly three- 

 sided. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. 

 Length from the tip of the snout to the Distance from the eye to the angle of 



point of tail 29 9 the mouth 3^ 



of the gape from the angle of from the tip of the nose to 



the mouth 11 the anus 10 6 



of the dorsal fin 26 9 from the tip of the snout to 



of the anal fin 19 3 the branchial opening ... 2 



Distance from the tip of the snout to 



the eye -, 4^ 



The colours of the female are the same as those of the male. 



From not having been able to class this fish in any of the groups already constituted, we have 

 been forced to regard it as the type of a new form. 



It is occasionally taken in nets in Table Bay, and I have only seen one individual exceeding 

 the size of the specimen here described ; it was about 9 feet in length, and, I have no doubt, of 

 a different species. 



The configuration of the snout of L. Capensis, and the arrangement of its teeth, par- 

 ticularly the former, present a striking resemblance to the corresponding parts of the common 

 Gavial (Crocodilus Gangeticus). 



