512 
ranean, growing twelve or fourteen inches long, 
feems not to have been unknown to the ancients, though 
probably they confounded it with the conger, to which it 
bears Some diftant refemblance. Perhaps the early Greek 
and Latin writers on natural hiftory have mentioned it 
tinder the name of (rnn’iis, or callarTas; but, for want of 
descriptions, they left us much in the dark concerning it. 
Pliny, indeed, fpeaks of a fifh which appears to be of this 
fpecies; he calls it Ophidion ; and, as that is the name 
given to it by all the modern writers, we are obliged to 
accept his Synonymy without further inquiry. The firft 
author to whom we are indebted for a defcription and 
figure of the ophidium, is Bellonius ; yet it appears, that 
he was not certain of the name of this fifn, lince he calls 
it gryllus, fcilj'n congrus, tragus, afelli fpecies. Rondeje- 
tius, who wrote foon after Bellonius, has given a better 
defcription, and a more accurate figure, of this fiih, which 
he calls ophidion, with a reference to Pliny. In the figure 
of Bellonius the cirri are very ill reprefented, and the 
whole fifh appears without any Spots, whereas in the plate 
of Rondeletius it is covered with oblong Spots. Wil¬ 
loughby, wdio is the firft ichthyologift who had given any 
good defcription of fifh, treats largely of the ophidium ; 
and, in his account, defcri’oes the Scales, which are difpofed 
without any regular order. This defcription was Suffi¬ 
cient to alcertain, that the difference between the figures 
arofe from Rondeletius having drawn the Scales omitted 
by Bellonius. Artedi did not take notice of the Spots; 
he deScribes the fifh in a genus to which he gives the name 
of Ophidion, and places that genus among the malacop- 
terygii. After him Kleinius once more took notice of 
the Spots; but at the fame time introduced another con- 
fufion concerning this fifh, arifing from Rondeletius hav¬ 
ing Said that it has two cirri, while Willoughby afferts it 
has four ; but it is eafy to reconcile thefe authors; for, 
though the ophidium has only two cirri, yet, each of thefe 
■being divided in two, they appear as four; So that Wil¬ 
loughby might jvift 1 y Say, that it is quadri-cirratus. Lin- 
uteus, in his defcription of the Ophidium barbatum, lays 
that its whole body is covered with oblong Spots, with¬ 
out any regular direction. Dr. Gouan, in his defcription 
of the genus of the ophidium, does not mention the 
fcaks; but gives th t J pots as a generic character. The 
laft author who has mentioned thefe Spots, and given a 
defcription of the fifh, is M. Brouffonet, in the Phil. 
Tranf. for 1781. The Scales are irregular, both in fhape 
and difpofition, as may be Seen in the figure. They are 
larger near the head, and all round.the anterior part of the 
body; but are hardly to be diftinguifhed near the tail, and 
not at all on the head or fins. They adhere to the body 
by means of a particular transparent Skin, which is in ge¬ 
neral very thin, butiomewhat thicker near the neck, and 
extended loofely over the whole head; this fldn is very 
eafily destroyed, after which, the Scales falling, the body 
appears Spotted. Thefe Scales are of the fame Sort as 
thofe that Leeuwenhoek has defcribed on the eel, (See the 
article Ichthyology, vol. x. p. 748.) and like thofe on 
the Anarrhichas lupus, the Blennius viviparus, and many 
other fifh.es, which' are commonly thought to be without 
lcale^. When you look at them with the naked eye, they 
appear as covered with very Small grains ; but, viewed 
through a microfcope, the middle of them appears more 
elevated than the margin; and, from the centre to the 
-margin, clofe by each other, there are many lines or rays, 
formed by Small Scales, placed one upon another, like tiles 
on a roof, the Superior being always the nearer to the 
centre. This Sort of Scales, which may be called umbonatce, 
are faltened to the body by very Small veffels inferted in 
.their middle. This Species is represented on the Plate 
at fig. 3. and one of the Scales magnified at c. 
According to Belonius, this fiih was much efleemed as 
food among the Romans; and Bloch fays the flefh is white, 
fat, and well-tafted. M. Brouffonet, on the contrary, fays, 
the flefh is not of a good tafte, but rather coarfe, like that 
of all fuch fifhes as, having no ventral fins, are obliged to 
make great efforts in Swimming, which makes the muf- 
cles harder. Phil. TranJ'. vol. lxxi. p. 436. 
2. Ophidium imberbe, the beardlefs ophidium: no bar¬ 
bies at the mouth ; the tail-fin blunt, or rounded. The 
dorfal. fin has 79 rays, the pectorals n, anal 41, tail 18. 
This fpecies is of a yellow colour. It is caught in the 
Mediterranean, especially on the South coaits of France ; 
alfo in the European Ocean, very far north. The dorfal, 
anal, and tail, fins, are So united as not to be eafily diilin- 
guiflied ; and hence authors differ as to the number of 
rays they affign to each fin. 
3. Ophidium viride, the green ophidium : no barbies, 
and the tail fliarp. The dorfal, anal, and tail, fins, are 
united, and con fid of a vaff number of rays ; the pedtoral 
fins have 10 or 11 each. This Species was firft made known 
by Otto Fabricius. It is found in the northern latitudes, 
as far as the Sea of Greenland. The dorfal, anal, and 
tail, fins, and the under part of the belly, are white ; the 
reft of the body is green, as its name imports. The head 
is flat, the eyes large, and the mouth opens wide. The 
lower jaw is rather the longeft; the teeth are Small. The 
rays of the tail-fin are lengthened into a point. It is very 
good food, like the reft of the fpecies; but, keeping ge¬ 
nerally in the main ocean, and in deep places, it is rarely 
caught. It is perhaps the largeft of the genus, reaching 
to the fize of Several Species of Gadus. 
4. Ophidium triurus, the open-mouthed ophidium : 
the Snout ends in an open tube; one tooth in each jaw; 
a Semilunar valve, which at the will of the animal fhuts 
that part of the aperture of the gills left free by the bran¬ 
chial membrane, which is attached to the head or body 
almoft all round ; tail trifid. 
This Species was firft defcribed by Commerfon, in his voy¬ 
age to the South Sea with Bougainville in 1768. Cepede 
has made a Separate genus of it, under the name of Triu¬ 
rus. Accident brought Commerfon acquainted with this 
fifh between 26 and 27 0 S. lat. and near the 104th degree 
of longitude. They had caught Several fifh of the macka= 
rel kind ; and in the ftomach of one of them Commerfon 
found five of thefe fifties, quite whole, not in the leaft al¬ 
tered by the powers of digeftion ; and he Soon Saw Several 
of the Same kind playing on*the Surface of the Sea. No 
perfon on-board had ever Seen Such fifh ; Commerfon 
therefore drew up a particular defcription of it. It was 
about the fize of a common herring, and had Somewhat of 
the look of one ; but has many traits in common with 
the Ophidium. 
The general colour is reddifh-broum, wdiich varies to 
Silvery under the head, and to flefh-colour on the Sides and 
under parts of the body and tail; there is a Spot of Alining 
white behind the bafe of each pedtoral fin. Both body 
and tail are compreffed, So that the length, height, and 
breadth, are in the proportion of 71, 18, and 10. There 
are no Spines ; and the Scales are So Small, and So indented 
in the flcin, as to be eafily overlooked. The head is com- 
prefled alfo, Somewhat flat at top, and produced into a 
long narrow tube, with a round orifice at the end which 
cannot be ciofed ; at the bottom of this tube are the jaws, 
confiding each of one triangular cutting tooth ; no teeth 
are vifible in the palate, nor on the tongue, which is very 
Short, griftly, but Somewhat flefhy and rounded at the tip. 
The noftrils are Small, nearer the eyes than to the extre¬ 
mity of the Snout. The eyes are pretty large, but have 
little convexity, and no membrane ; the iris is gold-and- 
filver colour. The gill-covers lie underneath the fkin, 
confifting each of one bony piece in the fhape of a Scythe. 
The membrane has five rays, flattened and bent, which 
can only be discovered on diffeftion. This membrane is 
attached to the head or body almoft in its whole circum¬ 
ference, So as to leave for the aperture of the gills only a 
very Small orifice at the part molt diftant from the muz¬ 
zle. Something Similar to this has been remarked in the 
Syngnathus and Callyonynuis genera ; but this fifh is 
diftinguifhed from every other hitherto known by a very 
complicated machinery for keeping water from entering 
„ the 
OPHIDIU M. 
it 
