CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932 — Page 94

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HENRY W. FOWLER

of head; space from anal origin to ventral 4 of head. Pectoral 7 in head. Uniform, back darker. Length 200 mm. (Chen).

Ying Khou (India, Batu, Java, Kei).

560, mm.

According to Day reaches

Rataboura macrocephala (Bleeker). Aphthalmichthys macrocephalus Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 1, 1863, p. 165. Timor.

Moringua macrocephala Chen, Bull. Biol. Dep. Sun Yat-sen Univ., vol. 1, No. 1, 1929, 27, fig. 13 (body and dentition) (Hoihow, Ying Khou).

Aphthalmichthys abbreviatus (not Bleeker) Wu, Contrib. Biolog. Lab. Sci. Soc. China, vol. 5, No. 4, 1929, p. 37, fig. 31 (head) (Amoy).

Depth 34 to 40; head 8% to 99/10, 5 to 5 4/5 in trunk; tail 1 to 2 in head and trunk. Eye 20 in head. Mouth cleft less than 6, reaches behind eye. Space from anal origin to ventral 2 to 4 times in head; dorsal origin opposite or behind anal origin; dorsal and anal form very low ridge, join short, truncate caudal. Pectoral 10 to 15 in head. Brown above, yellowish below. Length to 700 mm.

Hoihow, Ying Khou, Amoy (India, East Indies, Philippines, Polynesia*).

Family Echidnidae,

The Morays.

Body long to very elongate, rounded or compressed. Snout short, rounded or pointed, never much protruded before lower jaw. Mouth cleft reaches behind eye, often not completely closing. Tongue not free. Teeth in 1 or more series in jaws, on premaxillaries and vomer; granular, molar like, conic, compressed and pointed, often fang like and depressible. Front nostrils in tube near snout tip. Hind nostrils rounded, opening on top of head, before or above eye, sometimes with elevated rim or tube. Gill open- ings small, more or less horizontal slits or rounded openings, median in body depth or subventral, always well separated. No scales. Dorsal and anal confluent with caudal, generally covered with thick skin, may be well developed, low or even only rudiment near caudal. No pectorals. Ventral premedian, median or postmedian.

A large group of usually brightly coloured eels, living chiefly in the crevices of coral reefs. Those of large size are pugnaceous and capable of inflicting dangerous wounds with their strong teeth. The morays are known by their small gill openings and the absence of pectorals.

Channomuraena vittata (Richardson), originally ascribed to China,

is an American form known from the coast of Cuba.

Gymnothorax microsiphon Bleeker (Nederl. Tijdschr. Dier., vol. 4, 1873, P. 154), based on a Chinese drawing is evidently a Muraenophis. It is briefly noticed :

!

A Synopsis of the Fishes of China

133

Depth 16. Hind nasal tubes longer than eyes. Body violaccous, with lateral blackish dots and specks.

Synopsis of Genera.

a1. Some teeth granular or molar like. a2. None of teeth granular or molar like.

ECHIDNA.

b1. Head and body equal to or somewhat shorter or langer than tail.

c1. Dorsal begins before gill openings, anal close behind ventral.

d'. Hind nostrils without tube or with tube much shorter

than simple tubes of front nostrils.

e'. Depth less than 30; head less than 12.

LYCODONTIS.

e. Depth 40 to 51; head 12 to 17.

Hind nostrils on

PSEUDECHIDNA.

oval opening, nearly equal eye, surrounded by wide thin membrane; front nostrils with thickened rim prolonged behind in bilobed flap.

ENCHELYNASSA.

Dorsal and anal reduced to rudiments near caudal, with which confluent.

UROPTERYGIUS.

b. Head and trunk 11⁄2 to more than twice tail; front nostrils in simple

EVENCHELYS. appendage.

ECHIDNA Forster.

Type

Echidna Forster, Icon. Ined. Bibl. Banks, 1775, p. 181. Echidna variegata Forster; Enchirid, 1778, p. 31. Type Echidna variegata Forster = Muraena echidna Gmelin, tautotypic.

Body elongate, compressed. Head compressed, upper profile strong- ly arched. Eye small, covered with skin. Mouth cleft rather wide, extends behind eye. Teeth conic, granular or molar, variable with age; 1 or more Front nostril in tube on series in jaws; I to 3 series or group on vomer. top of snout. Hind nostril on upper surface of head before or above eye. Gill openings small, horizontal, in middle of body depth. Dorsal begins before, above or somewhat behind gill openings, confluent with caudal and anal, all covered with thick skin. Tail equals or somewhat longer or shorter than head and trunk.

Shores and reefs of tropical seas.

Echidna nebulosa (Ahl).

et Ophich. Muraena nebulosa Ahl, Specimen Ichth. Muraena Thunberg, 1789, p. 7, pl. right figure. East India.—Günther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., vol. 8, 1870, p. 130 (China Seas).

Echidna nebulosa Chen, Bull. Biol. Dep. Sun Yat-sen Univ., vol. 1, No. 1, 1929, p. 31, fig. 16 (dentition) (Lingsui).

The Hong Kong Naturalist.

May 1932.

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