OPHIDIUM. OPHIDIUM. 



Generic Character. 



Caput nudiusculum : dentes 

 maxillis, palato, faucibus. 



Membrana branchiostega ra- 



diis septem, patula. 

 Corpus ensiforme. 



Head somewhat naked : teeth 

 in the jaws, palate, and 

 throat. 



Branchiostegous membrane 



seven-rayed, patulous. 

 Body ensiform. 



BEARDED OPHIDIUM. 



Ophidium Barbatum. 0. cirro utrinque gulari duplici. 

 Ophidium with a long double cirrus on each side the throat. 

 Ophidium barbatum. 0. maxilla wferiore cirris quatuor. Lin. 



Syst. Nat. p. 431. 

 Ophidium cirris quatuor gularibus. Block. 5. p. 58. t. IBQ.f. 1, 



T^HE head of this fish is small; the upper jaw 

 rather longer than the lower, and both beset with 

 a great many small teeth : the lips are strong and 

 fleshy : in the throat are several small teeth : be- 

 tween the eyes and mouth are four small pores: 

 the tongue is strait and short : beneath the throat 

 are two long, bifid cirri, representing at first view 

 four distinct ones : the body is long, moderately 

 thick, and of a smooth surface: it is irregularly 

 covered with small scales, resembling in their struc- 

 ture those of an eel, and attached to the skin by 



