LEPTORIIYNCHUS CAPENSIS. 
the remainder short, nearly straight, and closely set. The lateral teeth 
with which the point of the upper jaw is armed are unequal in size, some at 
its very apex. In the lower jaw there are no teeth directly in front, the first 
of each side being a little behind the apex, it is the longest of the series, 
and distant from the next nearly one line ; the second is smaller, yet larger 
than those which succeed, and which nearly resemble in form and arrange- 
ment those of the upper jaw. 
The gilts are fixed on cartilaginous rami, in which respect as well as in 
many others this fish differs from Anguilla, Murcena , Spc. The oesophagus is 
stiong, internally marked with many longitudinal rugae; the coats of the 
stomach are thin, and the inner one when not distended, has also irregular rudi- 
mentary folds. The length of the stomach is not in the same proportion as in 
min cena, its lower termination being far in advance of the anus. The intesti- 
nal canal proceeds from near the cardiac orifice, and forms no convolutions ; 
it is nearly of equal calibre throughout, and closely intersected towards the 
lectum by rudimentary transverse septce ; the rectum is open and unobstructed. 
The liver is short in proportion when compared with that of Murcena, but 
not very different from that of Anguilla ; it is of an irregular oblong form 
and placed upon the upper extremity of the stomach immediately over the 
pyloric orifice. The gall bladder is small and situated on the side of the 
liver near its inferior extremity, and the gall duct enters the intestinal canal 
a little below the pylorus. The spleen is long, slender, and slightly three- 
sided. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches, Lines. 
Length from the tip of the snout to the 
point of tail 29 9 
of the gape from the angle of 
the mouth o n 
of the dorsal fin 26 9 
of the anal fin 19 3 
Distance from the tip of the snout to 
the eye 0 4^ 
Inches. Lines. 
Distance from the eye to the angle of 
the mouth 0 3| 
from the tip of the nose to 
the anus 10 6 
from the tip of the snout to 
the branchial opening ... 2 0 
The colours of the female are the same as those of the male. 
From not having been able to class this fish in any of the groups already constituted, we have 
been forced to regard it as the type of a new form. 
It is occasionally taken in nets in Table Bay, and I have only seen one individual exceeding 
the size of the specimen here described ; it was about 9 feet in length, and, I have no doubt, of 
a different species. 
The configuration of the snout of L. Capensis, and the arrangement of its teeth, par- 
ticularly the former, present a striking resemblance to the corresponding parts of the common 
Gavial ( Crocodilus Gangeticus). 
