24 R0NDELET1AN EEL. 



form, but round and sharp-pointed : the pectoral fins 

 are small, oval, and furnished with sixteen rays. 

 The habits of this species resemble those of the pre- 

 ceding, and it is said to swim with great vigour 

 and activity. It seems to have given rise to the 

 fabulous narratives recorded by some authors of the 

 vast sea-serpents supposed to be sometimes seen in 

 •various parts of the northern ocean. 



RONDELETIAN EEL. 



Anguilla Myrus. A. nigricans, rostro elongato. 

 Dusky Eel, with elongated snout. 



Muraena Myrus. M. pinna ambiente alba, mar gine nigro. Lin. 



Syt. Nat. p, 427. 

 M. rostro acuto lituris albis vario, margine pinnae dorsalis 



nigro. Arted. gen. 24. syn. 40. 

 Myrus Rondeletii. ? Gesn. Aldr. Will. p. 109 • 



If the Muraana Myrus of Linnaeus be the Myrus 

 of Rondeletius, it is thus described by that author. 

 It bears a greater general resemblance to a serpent 

 than to an eel ; having a long sharp snout, and a 

 thin, round, blackish body, without either spots or 

 scales ; it has one branchial orifice on each side, 

 and is furnished with two shallow fins of a skinny 

 substance ; one running from the neck to the tail, 

 and the other from the vent to the same part ; the 

 border of both being black, as in the Conger : the 

 sides, from the beginning of the neck, are marked 

 with certain yellow specks, more apparent in the 



