DRUMMOND’S ECHIODON. 
233 
of the dorsal fin opposite being three times the length of the body ; the 
first and second anterior rays flexible and simple (?), remainder articu- 
lated. Pectoral fins originate 1 line behind the head, and are equal to 
half its length ; central rays longest, all very flexible, placed below the 
middle of the sides. Caudal fin, central rays longest. Articulations very 
long on the rays of all the fins ; no branched rays in any of them. 
D. 180 P A. 180 P P 16 P C. 12?— Br. 7. 
Although the numbers of these fin-rays be marked with doubt, they were 
reckoned with the greatest care ; but without injury to the specimen they 
could not be ascertained with certainty to a single ray. Vertebrce , which 
distinctly seen through the skin can be reckoned with accuracy, 98. 
Colours, anterior half a dull flesh-colour, similar to specimens of Cepola 
rubescens preserved in spirits, hence it is presumed to have been origin- 
ally red; behind this portion reddish-brown markings appear on the 
body at the base of the dorsal and anal fins, and suddenly increase in 
number, until, from an inch behind the middle, the whole sides are closely 
marked and spotted over ; the entire top and the sides of the head before 
the hinder line of the eye are similarly spotted ; just behind the cranium a 
few spots also appear : the posterior rays of the dorsal and anal, and the 
entire caudal fin blackish. Iris, operculum, and under surface, a short 
way beyond the vent, bright silver. 
The two large teeth, resembling serpents’ fangs, which terminate the 
upper jaw on each side, have suggested the generic appellation of JEchio- 
don (t%t£, a viper, and odovg, a tooth) ; and the specific name of Drum - 
mondii is proposed in honour of the discoverer. * 
Although when this jlsh first came into my possession I saw that it 
might be classed under the Malacopterygii Apodes, and be placed near 
Ophidium, I considered that in a natural arrangement it would best con- 
stitute a new genus of the family Tcenioidea. In being apodal it was not 
excluded from this family, as two genera belonging to it are destitute of 
ventral fins. I did not hesitate to place it under the Acanthopterygii, as 
some genera which are included in this order are, like it, strictly Mala- 
copterygian, their natural connexion with genera having fins with spinous 
rays being considered — and in my opinion most philosophically — to out- 
* In Mr. Templeton’s Catalogue of Irish Vertebrate Animals, published in 
the Magazine of Natural History (new series) for T837, we find the following 
remarks in reference to Ophidium imberbe. “ The only specimen I have ob- 
served was thrown on the shores of Belfast Lough, near the White House Point, 
on January 9, 1809. It was a large specimen, not less than a foot long, and 
agreed so exactly with the figure in the British Zoology, and differed so much 
from that of Mr. Montagu (Wern. Mem. p. 95, pi. 4), that I am led to believe 
there are two distinct species, of which Pennant has described the one and Mon- 
tagu the other.” New series, vol. i. p. 412. 
In endeavouring to gain further information on this subject from the late Mr. 
Templeton’s papers (all of which, through the kindness and liberality of his 
family, are accessible to me), I have been only able to find the following note, 
which appears in his Journal, under date January 10, 1809. “Went to the 
White House to look for Fuci; found a fish about 18 inches long, more taper 
than an eel, at the thickest part about an inch and a half diameter. I think it 
was the Ophidium imberbe. Brit. Zool. iii. 398, t. 93, in vol. iv.” It is much 
to be regretted that the information is not more precise, as it is not improbable 
that the species alluded to may have been identical with that which forms the 
subject of the present article. The White House Point and Carnlough Bay are 
in a direct line about twenty miles distant. 
