The Mythology of Fishes 



361 



The Bishop-fish. "I have seen a portrait of another sea- 

 monster at Rome, whither it had been sent with letters that 

 affirmed for certain that in 1531 one had seen this monster in 

 a bishop's garb, as here portrayed, in Poland. Carried to the 

 king of that country, it made 

 certain signs that it had a 

 great desire to return to the 

 sea. Being taken thither it 

 threw itself instantly into the 

 water." 



The Sea-serpent. A myth of 

 especial persistency is that of 

 the sea-serpent. Most of the 

 stories of this creature are sea- 

 man's yarns, sometimes based 

 on a fragment of wreck, a long 

 strip of kelp, the power of sug- 

 gestion or the incitement of 

 alcohol. But certain of these 

 tales relate to real fishes. The 

 sea-serpent with an uprearing 

 red mane like that of a horse 

 is the oarfish (Regalecus), a 

 long, slender, fragile fish com- 

 pressed like a ribbon and 

 reaching a length of 255 feet. 

 We here present a photograph 



of an oarfish (Regalecus rus- F IG- 235. "Le monstre marin en habit 



^ ,. d' Eveque." (After Rondelet.) 



selli) stranded on the Cali- 

 fornia coast at Newport in Orange County, California. A figure 

 of a European species (Regalecus glesne) is also given showing the 

 fish in its uninjured condition. Another reputed sea-serpent is 

 the frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus angineus], which has been 

 occasionally noticed by seamen. The struggles of the great 

 killer (Orca orca} with the whales it attacks and destroys has 

 also given rise to stories of the whale struggling in the embrace 

 of some huge sea-monster. This description is correct, but the 

 mammal is a monster itself, a relative of the whale and not a 

 reptile. 



