30 AFRICAN MURjENA. 



edged with sharp, distant teeth, of which those in 

 front are longer than the rest : the colour of the 

 animal is white, with a slight tinge of yellow, and 

 marked throughout by transverse brown bands, 

 continued across the fins : on the sides of the body 

 the appearance of the bands is indistinct, on account 

 of the numerous reticularly disposed variegations of 

 light brown with which those parts are covered. 

 Native of the Indian seas. 



AFRICAN MURjENA. 



Mursena Africana. M. fusca, albido marmurata, pinna dorsali 



longitudine trunei. 

 Brown Muraena marbled with whitish variegations , the dersal 



fin the length of the body. , 

 Gymnothorax afer. Block. 12. p. 73. t. 41 f. 



The colour of this species is brown, irregularly 

 marbled with pale or whitish variegations in such a 

 manner as to bear some resemblance to those of 

 the common or Roman Muraena; these variegations 

 are continued on the fins which are moderately 

 broad in proportion to the body; the dorsal fin 

 begins immediately behind the head, and is con- 

 tinued round the tail where it meets the vent-fin, as 

 in others of this genus : the head is of moderate 

 size ; the eyes large ; the mouth very wide, and 

 armed with sharp, distant teeth, those in front ex- 

 ceeding the rest in size : in the palate are also 

 situated three or four large teeth in a longitudinal 



