sas M U R 
of thefe fifh to his friends to regale themfelves with. 
Pliny lays, that the Romans were fo fond of thefe Mi, that 
they made earrings and other female ornaments in that 
fliape. They may be eafily brought up tame. Crafl'us 
had fome who came when he called them, and Ihowed 
their joy and gratitude by leaping about when he gave 
them any thing : fo much did he love them, that he 
wept when any of them died, and bellowed magnificent 
funeral rites upon them. 
As this fifh is very hardy, it might eafily be brought 
from Italy into the reft of Europe, and bred in our ponds 
both for beauty and ufe. Dr. Schsepf found them in 
plenty on the coal! of Florida and the Bahama Ifles, but 
not often in the middle provinces of North America. 
BrOuffonet afierts, in Roller’s Journal, 1776, that the 
murasna has fcaies fimilar to the eel; but thefe Bloch 
could never difcovereither in the frelhor dried fpecimens. 
13. Murasna catenatus, the chain-fifh : body brown, 
with white fpots like chain-work ; pedtoral fins none. 
The head and mouth are fmall; the teeth are very final 1 , 
fet clofe together, and fharp-pointed ; the palate and 
tongue are fmooth. The eyes are fmall; the pupil blue, 
furrounded by a very narrow white iris. The noftrils are 
fingle, and very near the eyes; at the end of the fnout 
there are two fliort briftly barbies. The aperture of the 
gills is fmall, and naked. The lateral line is hardly vifi- 
ble ; it runs, however, in a parallel direction with the 
back. The back and belly are round, the fides com- 
prefi’ed ; the dorfal, anal, and tail, fins, united. This 
fpecies is from Surinam; eighteen inches long. Seba has 
placed it among the ferpents; but his figure of it is faulty 
beiides. 
14. Mursena reticularis, the netted eel: body white, 
with fpots like net-work; the dorfal-fin the whole length 
of the back, peftorals none. The head and mouth are 
fmall ; no barbies. The eyes are near the upper lip, and 
the fame colour as the preceding. The teeth ftand apart 
from each other, and thofe in front are the longeft. The 
body is white, with brown tranfverfe ftripes or bands, 
which however are vifible only on the back and belly, and 
not on the fides, becaufe of the reticular fpots. The dor¬ 
fal-fin is brown fpotted with yellow, and confifts of an in¬ 
finite number of very foft tender rays ; however, the three 
fins are united. This beautiful fpecies was received by 
Bloch from Tranquebar; but little is known of its na¬ 
tural hiftory. It is from two to three feet in length ; and 
is fhown on the Plate at fig. 3. 
15. Murasna Afer, the African bare-breaft: mouth 
wide; the dorfal-fin the whole length of the back, pedto- 
rals none. The teeth are ftrong, and bent back ; the 
hinder ones fmaller than thole in front; there are alfo 
fome large teeth in the palate, but none upon the tongue. 
The eyes, which are oval, are larger than in any of the 
other fpecies ; the pupil is black, iris blue. The body is 
comprefied, terminating at each end in a point, and of a 
brown mottled colour. This fpecies is found among the 
rocks on thecoaft of Guinea ; it is good food; but the ne¬ 
groes, taking it for a ferpent, will not eat it. 
16. Muraena meleagris, the fpeckled eel: body blackifh, 
thickly fpeckled with white. The body is of a deep brown 
or blackifh colour, thickly fet with fmall round white fpots ; 
breaft much paler. Inhabits the Southern Ocean ; about 
two feet long. This and the two following were added by 
the late Dr. Shaw. 
17. Muraena zebra, the zebiv. eel. This fpecies, which 
grows to the length of two or three feet, is a native of the 
American leas, and is readily diftinguifhed by the ftrong- 
ly-marked diftribution of its colours ; the rich brown, 
which conftitutes the ground-colour, being furrounded, 
at confiderable diftance, by narrow white bands, which, on 
the lower part of the fides and under the abdomen, unite 
or anaftomofe here and there, fo as to form fubtriangular 
markings in fome parts, and rounded or ocellated ones in 
others. The head is rather large or tumid, and the mouth 
and eyes fmall; there is no diftindt appearance either of 
JENA. 
dorfal or caudal fins. This animal feems to have been 
fir ft defcribed.by Seba. A beautiful fpecimen occurs in 
the mufeum of Mr. John Hunter. 
18. Murasna viridis, the green eel: grafs-green, with 
very numerous rufous-brown fpots. This, which is fufii- 
ciently defcribed as to its general appearance by the fpe- 
cific character annexed, is confidered by Seba as a kind of 
marine fnake, and is reprefented with a bifid or ferp6ntine 
tongue ; but this is probably an error of the engraver. 
19. Muraena nigricans, the blackifh eel: head flat, jaws 
long, the lower longeft; fnout rounded ; teeth at the ex¬ 
tremity of the lower jaw, larger than the reft, a row of 
teeth on each fide the palate. Inhabits South America; 
colour blackifh. This and the five following are formed 
by Cepede into a genus, Munenophis, denoting that they 
partake of the qualities of the eel and of the ferpent. 
20. Murasna pantherinus, the panther eel: the aper¬ 
ture of the gills at a diftance from the head equal to the 
length of the head; the dorfal fin as far from the gills as 
they from the head; colour yellowifh, fprinkled"above 
with little black fpots, occalionally forming circles. The 
eyes are large, and veiled by a transparent membrane ; jaws 
nearly equal. This Ipecies was firft defcribed by Cepede, 
from the Dutch colledtion yielded during the war to re¬ 
publican France. 
21. Murasna ftellata, the ftellated eel: dorfal-fin verv 
low, but beginning very near the head ; teeth fharp in the 
jaws and palate ; two rows of ftar-like fpots along each 
fide. This alfo is a new fpecies, difcovered by Commer- 
fon among the rocks of New Britain. Length half a yard ; 
colour, yellow mingled with white, top of the fnout bluifli; 
the ftarry fpots dark purple, the upper row containing 
twenty, the lower twenty-one. Iris golden; upper jaw 
longeft ; vent in the middle of the total length. Good 
food. 
22. Murasna undulata, the undulated eel: head large ; 
fnout long and thin, eyes near the end of it ; teeth very 
fmall, and far apart; dorfal-fin high, and near the head; 
tranfverfe undulated fpots on the body. This alfo was 
obferved by Commerfon. 
23. Murasna grifea, the grey eel: fnout rounded; up¬ 
per jaw thicker and longer; teeth bent and feparate in the 
front, a large upright one at the innfer angle of the palate ; 
dorfal fin beginning nearly over the aperture of the gills ; 
vent nearer the head 5 colour brown and white mingled 
in very fmall ftreaks. Made known by Commerfon ; 
found in New Britain. Size of the common eel. Irides 
golden with brown dots; fcaies and tongue hardly viiible. 
Commerfon adds, that the bite of this fifh is like the cut 
of a razor. 
24. Murasna Hauy, Hauy’s eel: ftrong teeth, fomewhat 
bent; dorfal fin beginning as far from the gills as thefe 
from the head; anal fin extremely fhort. The prevailing 
colour is gold yellow, mixed with filvery tints. In the 
place of the lateral line appears a longitudinal red ltripe. 
The fpots over the whole furface areofa yellowifh brown, 
fome lighter, fome darker. The branchial aperture, ly¬ 
ing low, feems to conned! this genus with the Sphage- 
branchus, or worm-fifh. Communicated by citizen Noel, 
of Rouen. 
25. Muraena doliata, the white-banded murasna: co¬ 
lour brown, with about fixty narrow white bands en¬ 
circling the body and tail; no pedtoral fins, anal and dor¬ 
fal not vifible ; vent near the end of the tail; branchial 
aperture fingle, under the throat. This and the follow¬ 
ing are new fpecies communicated by Commerfon ; and 
by Cepede called Gymnomuraena, as being nearly defti- 
tute of fins. No fin but the caudal is perceptible to the 
eye. This fpecies grows a yard long or more. Befides 
the regular zones mentioned in the fpecific charadter* 
there are fome irregular tranfverfe bars on the fides ; and 
feveral irregular white ftripes on the head. The body and 
tail are comprefied ; the upper jaws fomewhat protruded, 
and each contains grinders as well as cutting teeth. The 
noftrils have a double orifice; the front orifice at the tip 
