Snout . broad and rounded; gape extending to a vertical line from the posterior part of the orbit: more than one-third of the entire length before the dorsal, and about one-seventh before the pectorals.

A. latirostris, Yarr. in Proceed, of Zool. Soc. 1831. p. 133. Riss. Hist. Nat. de l'Eur. Merid. torn. in. p. 199.? Blunt-headed Eel, Yarr. in Zool. Journ. vol. iv. p. 469. Glut Eel, Bowd. Brit. fr. wat. Fish. Draw. no. 22. L'Anguille pimperneaux, Cuv. Reg. An. torn. ii. p. 349.

Length

From one to two, perhaps sometimes three, feet.

Description

{Form). Body much larger and thicker anteriorly than in the last species, but more compressed behind; thickness not uniform beyond the commencement of the dorsal, from which point the compression of the sides rapidly increases: depth greatest at the nape: head large, appearing, when viewed from above, broader than the body: snout blunt and rounded, flattened before the eyes: jaws broad; the lower one wider and longer than the upper: gape large; the commissure reaching to, or almost beyond, a tangent to the posterior part of the orbit: lips thick and fleshy at the sides of the mouth, and partially reflexed: eyes larger than in the A. acutirostris; the distance from them to the end of the snout equals at least twice their diameter; the distance between them rather less: dorsal commencing at a point beyond one-third of the entire length; both that and the anal thicker in substance and more elevated than the same fins in the A. acutirostris, their height equalling nearly half the depth: vent before the middle by a space equalling about three-fourths of the depth: tail broader, and more rounded at its extremity: pectorals somewhat larger, and placed, as well as the branchial orifices, further behind; the distance from the line of their insertion to the end of the snout is contained not more than seven times in the entire length, and not so much as twice and a half in the portion anterior to the commencement of the dorsal fin. Number of vertebrae one hundred and fifteen †. (Colours). Back and sides of a darker colour than in the A. acutirostris, and having more of a bluish than a greenish tinge; the lateral line, however, forms a pale green stripe down each side: underneath, including a portion of the anal, white, without any yellow tinge. The colours, however, are variable, as in the last species.

This species, which is probably the Grig ‡ or Glut Eel of Pennant, is nearly as common as the last. It has not been known, however, to exceed a weight of five pounds. Independently of the above external differences, Mr. Yarrell has observed others " in the size and character of the bones of the head and vertebrce; those of the present species being nearly as large again as the same parts of the A. acutirostris in examples of the same length *".

* See an instance mentioned by Dr. Hastings in his Nat. Hut. of Worcestersh. p. 134. † The number of vertebrae rests on the authority of Mr. Yarrell.

‡ I am informed by Mr. Yarrell, that the term Grig is applied in many places generally to all small-sized Eels. Too much reliance, therefore, must not be placed upon the mere name.