SHE SEA SHAIEa 
Ihe Sea Snail*. 
The whole of this fifli, the head as well as body, i* foft 
and unduous, eafily foluble into a kind of oily fluid; i r - 
is on this account that it has obtained the name of fnail* 
Its habitation is not properly in the fea, but about four of 
five miles from the mouths of large rivers, where the 
water is beginning to be fait. The body of this fpecies 
is tranfparent, of about five inches in length ; and when 
newly taken, the colour is pale brown f. 
The head is thick and round ; the mouth without 
teeth, each jaw being only a little rough. The aperture 
ef the gills is {mail, covered with a valve or operculum, 
which fprings from the bafe of each of the peftoral fi« 5 * 
Thefe fins are very broad, thin and tranfparent ; and be- 
low the throat, they almoft unite together. Below the 
throat, there is obferved a round fpot refembling the J®' 
preffion of a feal, the place which the animal applies to 
thofe fubftances to which it means to adhere. The au- 
al and dorfal fins continue without interruption, till, 
thofe of the eel, they meet at the tail 
* Liparis noftras. Will. Cyclopterus liparis. Lin. Sytb 
f Will. Append. 17. 1 Brit. Zoo}. 
