OPHIDIOIDS. 
601 
FJERASFER DENTATUS. 
Fig. 145. 
Among the anterior jaw-teeth we find a pair or two of curved canines both in the upper jaw and the tower. 
Length of the pectoral fins 1 / 2 that of the head , which in adult specimens measures about 10 1 / 2 % of that of the 
body. Greatest depth of the body ( just behind the head) somewhat less than 1 / 2 (46 — 48 %) of the length of the 
head , which is less than the distance between the vent and the tip of the snout ( during youth % t° °h> °ld 
specimens 8 / 9 thereof). Longitudinal diameter of the orbits about V 3 of the length of the lower jaw , which is 
more than half ( about 56 %) of the length of the head, but less than half (about 45 %) of the distance between 
the vent and the tip of the snout. Postorbital length of the head about 70 % of the entire length, of the same. 
Height of the anal fin, which begins just behind the vent and somewhat behind, or vertically below the beginning 
of the dorsal fin, greater at the middle of its length than either the height of the dorsal fin or the depth of the 
body at this point, but somewhat less than the greatest depth of the body. The abdominal cavity extends behind 
the vent for a distance about half as great again as that between the vent and the tip of the snout. Body trans- 
parent, during life colourless , save for the whitish, brassy iris and the silvery abdominal cavity. 
Fig. 145. Fierasfer dentatus, natural size. From 100 — 200 f thins, of water on the Jutland Reef. 
Taken in 1880 by Fisherman B. Westergren. 
E. hr. 7; I). ca 144 — 180; A. ca 165—180; P. 16; V. 0; C. 0. 
a Syn. Ophidium dentatum, Cuv. (subgen. Fierasfer ), Regne Anirn., 
ed. 2, tome II, p. 359; Gtur ( Fierasfer ), Cat. Brit. Mus., 
Fish., vol. IV, p. 383; Couch, Fish . Brit. Isl., vol. Ill, p. 
133, tab. CL VI; Putnam ( Eehiodon ), Proa. Boston Soc. Nat. 
Hist., vol. XVI, p. 346; Gigl. ( Fierasfer ), Espos. Intern. 
Pesoa, Berl. 1880, Sez. 1 1 al . , Cat., p. 97; Emery, Atti Accad. 
Line., ser. Ill, Mem. Cl. Sc. Fis., Math., Natur. vol. VII, 
p. 183, tab. I, cett. ; Ip., Fn., FI. Golf. Neapel, II, p. 16, 
tab. I, cett.; Day, Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. I, p. 328; 
Coll., Fork. Vid. Selsk. Christ. 1882, No. 19, p. 3 cum tab.; 
Lillj., Sr., Norg. Fisk., vol. II, p. 234. 
Eclnodon Drummondii, Thomps., Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., vol. 
II, p. 207, tab. XXXVIII. 
Encheliophis tenuis, Putnam (larva) 1. c., p. 347. 
In Scandinavia as everywhere Fierasfer dentatus 
is an extremely rare fish ; and its habits, at least- when 
adult, are almost unknown. It was originally described 
as a Mediterranean form, but even there it is seldom ob- 
served. Emery saw only one adult specimen at Naples, 
but he mentions at least three larvae which he procured 
from Holothurhe. Giglioli assigns this species to Naples, 
Messina, and Venice. On the other hand, neither 
Canestrini, Moreau, nor Steindachner mentions its 
occurrence in the Mediterranean. In the Atlantic it 
was first met with by Thompson, who received through 
Drummond a specimen ‘28 cm. (11 in.) long that had 
