Surmullets, Croakers, etc. 361 



the tail and gradually climbs over it with its jaws, first using 

 one and then the other; as the captive is taken in the stomach 

 and integuments stretch out, and at last the entire fish is passed 

 through the mouth and into the stomach, and the distended 

 belly appears as a great bag, projecting out far backwards and 

 forwards, over which is the swallower with the ventrals dislo- 

 cated and far away from their normal place. The walls of the 

 stomach and belly have been so stretched that they are trans- 

 parent, and the species of the fish can be discerned within. But 

 such rapacity is more than the captor itself can stand. At 

 length decomposition sets in, the swallower is forced belly up- 

 wards, and the imprisoned gas, as in a balloon, takes it upwards 

 from the depths to the surface of the ocean, and there, perchance, 

 it may be found and picked up, to be taken home for a wonder, 

 as it is really. Thus have at least three specimens found their 

 way into museums one being in the United States National 

 Museum and in each the fish in the stomach has been about 

 twice as long, and stouter in proportion, than the swallower 

 six to twelve times bulkier! Its true habitat seems to be at a 

 depth of about 1,500 fathoms." 



Allied to this family is the little group of Champsodontidas of 

 Japan and the East Indies. Champsodon vorax looks like a 

 young Uranoscopus. The body is covered with numerous 

 lateral lines and cross-lines. 



The Malacanthidse. The Malacanthida are elongate fishes, 

 rather handsomely colored, with a strong canine on the premaxil- 

 lary behind. Malacanthus plumieri, the matajuelo bianco, a 

 slender fish of a creamy-brown color, is common in the West 

 Indies. Other species are found in Polynesia, the most notable 

 being Malacanthus (or Oceanops] lativittatns, a large fish of a 

 brilliant sky-blue, with a jet-black lateral band. In Samoa this 

 species is called gatasami, the "eye of the sea." 



The Blanquillos : Latilidae. The Latilida, or blanquillos, have 

 also an enlarged posterior canine, but the body is deeper and the 

 flesh more firm. The species reach a considerable size and are 

 valued as food. Lopholotilus charnaleonticeps is the famous 

 tilefish dredged in the depths under the Gulf Stream. It is a 

 fish of remarkable beauty, red and golden. This species, Pro- 

 fessor Gill writes, "was unknown until 1879, when specimens 



