SNAKE EEL, 23 



fins small and white. This fish is chiefly found in 

 the Indian seas, but is said to have been occasion- 

 ally met with in the Mediterranean, &c. It is of the 

 same predacious nature with the rest of this genus, 

 and is said to arrive at a very considerable size, 

 though the specimens usually brought into Europe 

 .seldom exceed two or three feet in length. 



SNAKE EEL. 



Anguilla Serpens. A. albida rostro elongate, cauda aptera 



acuta, corf ore tereti. 

 Whitish Eel, with lengthened snout, finless sharp-pointed tail, 



and round body. 

 M. Ophis. cauda aptera cuspidata, corpore tereti. Lin. 



Syst. Nat. p. 425. 

 Serpens marinus. Salvian? Gesn? Aldrf Will? t. G. 4. 



This species, which is of the same general form 

 with the preceding, is a native of the Mediter- 

 ranean and northern seas, where it often arrives at 

 a very considerable size, and is commonly known 

 by the title of sea-serpent or snake: the head is 

 long and slender, and the gape very wide : the 

 teeth very sharp, those in the front of the mouth 

 being longer than those on the sides : the general 

 colour of the animal is a very pale yellowish brown 

 above, and bluish white beneath : the dorsal and 

 anal fins are shallow, tinged with black toward the 

 edges, and terminate at some little distance before 

 the tip of the tail, which is not of a compressed 



