The Hifiory of ANIMALS, 
237 
Murcena fupremo margine pinnce dorfalis nigro. 
The Murcena , with the upper edge of the dorfal fin 
black . 
This has greatly the external appearance of the eel, but exceeds it extreamly in 
fize : we frequently fee it of five or fix feet long, and of the thicknefs of a man’s 
thigh, and fome have been caught vaftly larger j the head is acute; the opening of the 
mouth is large, and the teeth are extreamly numerous and (harp: the eyes are fmali, 
and covered with a thick membrane; their iris is of a filvery white, and the pupil 
fmali, round, and black : the peCtoral fins are fmali; and the lateral line runs ftraight, 
and is broad and white : the colour of the back and fides is a deep olive ; the belly is 
of a filvery white, fometimes tinged yellowifh or brownifh : the back fin furrounds the 
whole hinder part of the body ; it is fupported by a vaft number of rays, and is of a 
greyifh olive colour, except at the edge, where it is blackifh. 
This fpecies is caught at fea, and in the mouths of large rivers. Athenasus and Op- 
pian call it Yoyy ?<&; the Latin writers in general Congrus and Conger; fome of them 
Gonger, and fome Gryllus. 
Murcena rofiro acuto , lituris albis vario , margine pin- 
nee dorfalis nigro . %\)£ 
The Murcena , with the finout Jharp and[potted with 
white , and with the edge of the back fin black . 
This has much of the general refemblance of the eel, but the body is lefs rounded; it 
grows to between three and four feet in length, and, when of this fize, is as thick as a 
man’s wrift : the head is fmali, and the roftrum acute ; the colour is a dufky greenifh 
olive, but it is variegated with a number of whits blotches; the opening of the mouth is 
very wide, and the teeth are numerous, fharp, and larger than in the common eel: 
the eyes are fmali and round ; the iris filvery, and the pupil is black and round : the 
iris has fometimes a red tinge, but this is lefs common ; the peCtoral fins are fmali, and 
are fituated juft by the apertures of the gills: the body is fomewhat comprefied all 
the way, but in particular from the anus to the tail it is very remarkably fo : the back 
is of a yellowifh colour, but there are ten elegant, filvery fpots running along the mid¬ 
dle of it: the belly is of a filvery white; the back fin furrounds the tail, and comes 
up to the anus; it is fupported by a great number of rays, but they are flender, and 
the membrane that covers them is fo thick, that they are not eafily counted. 
This fpecies is frequent in the Mediterranean, and has fometimes been caught in 
our feas; I remember to have feen fmali ones often on the coaft of Yorkfhire. Arif- 
totle, TElian, and Athenasus call it Mup©»; Pliny, Smyrus and Myrus; moft of the La¬ 
tin writers, after him, have called it Myrus ; Gaza calls it Myrus; Ray, Willughby, 
and many others call it Serpens marinus alter cauda comprefla. 
Murcena exaEle teres , cauda acuta , apterygia . 
The cylindric Murcena , with the tail naked and acute . 
This has vaftly more the appearance of the ferpent-kind than the former fpecies, 
but both of them are properly and punctually Muraenae: as the fpecies hitherto de- 
fcribed have only three fins, this, from a difeontinuity of the furrounding fin, has 
four; it grows to five feet in length, and to the thicknefs of a man’s wrift : the head 
is fmali, and the roftrum acute, but the opening of the mouth is very large, and is 
furnifhed with a vaft number of very fharp and ftrong teeth, of unequal fizes: the 
eyes are fmali; their iris is of a gold yellow, the pupil round and black: the colour 
of the head is a dufky olive, with an admixture of grey : the body is not at all com¬ 
prefied, but perfectly rounded; the back and fides are of a dufky olive, and the belly 
of a filvery white; the lateral line is broad and pale, and is not ftraight as in the 
others, but very flexuous and crooked : the peCtoral fins ftand juft at the apertures of 
the gills; they are fmali, and they have each fixteen rays: the back fin does not fur- 
round the body, or indeed reach to the extremity of it, but is terminated at fome 
P p p •; diftance 
Xfte !&eas 
ferpent. 
