The Grayling and the Smelt 



'35 



feebly ossified, and the ligaments connecting the vertebrae are 

 very loose and extensible, so that the body can be considerably 

 stretched. "This loose connection of the parts of the body 

 is found in numerous deep-sea fishes, and is merely the conse- 

 quence of their withdrawal from the pressure of the water to 

 which they are exposed in the depths inhabited by them. When 

 within the limits of their natural haunts, the osseous, muscular, 

 and fibrous parts of the body will have that solidity which is 

 required for the rapid and powerful movements of a predatory 

 fish. That the fishes of this genus (Plagyodus) belong to the 

 most ferocious of the class is proved by their dentition and the 

 contents of their stomach." (Gunther.) Dr. Gunther else- 



FIG. 96. Lancet-fish, Plagyodus ferox (Lowe). New York. 



where observes: "From the stomach of one example have been 

 taken several octopods, crustaceans, ascidians, a young Brama, 

 'twelve young boarfishes (Capros), a horse-mackerel, and one 

 young of its own species." 



The lancet-fish, Plagyodus ferox, is occasionally taken on 

 either side of the Atlantic and in Japan. The handsaw-fish, 

 called Plagyodus asculapius, has been taken at Unalaska, off 

 San Luis Obispo, and in Humboldt Bay. It does not seem to 

 differ at all from Plagyodus ferox. The original type from Una- 

 laska had in its stomach twenty-one lumpfishes (Eumicrotremus 

 spinosus}. This is the species described from S teller's manu- 

 scripts by Pallas under the name of Plagyodus. Another 

 species, Plagyodus borcalis, is occasionally taken in the North 

 Pacific. 



The EvermanneUidce is a small family of small deep-sea fishes 



