364 The Mythology of Fishes 



It is often hard to account for some of the stories of the sea- 

 serpent. A gentleman of unquestioned intelligence and sincer- 

 ity lately dercribed to the writer a sea-serpent he had seen at 

 short range, 100 feet long, swimming at the surface, and with 

 a head as large as a barrel. I do not know what he saw, but I 

 do know that memory sometimes plays strange freaks. 



Little venomous snakes with flattened tails (Platyurus, 

 Pelamis) are found in the salt bays in many tropical regions of 

 the Pacific (Gulf of California, Panama, East Indies, Japan), 

 but these are not the conventional sea-serpents. 



Certain slender fishes, as the thread-eel (Nemichthys] and 

 the wolf -eel (Anarrhichthys] , have been brought to naturalists 

 as young sea-serpents, but these of course are genuine fishes. 



Whatever the nature of the sea-serpent may be, this much 

 is certain, that while many may be seen, none will ever be 

 caught. The great swimming reptiles of the sea vanished at 

 the end of Mesozoic time, and as living creatures will never be 

 known of man. 



As a record of the Mythology of Science, we may add the 

 following remarks of Rafinesque on the imaginary garpike 

 (Litholepis adamantinus) , of which a specimen was painted for 

 him by the wonderful brush of Audubon: 



"This fish may be reckoned the wonder of the Ohio. It is 

 only found as far up as the falls, and probably lives also in the 

 Mississippi. I have seen it, but only at a distance, and have 

 been shown some of its singular scales. Wonderful stories are 

 related concerning this fish, but I have principally relied upon 

 the description and picture given me by Mr. Audubon. Its 

 length is from 4 to 10 feet. One was caught which weighed 

 400 pounds. It lies sometimes asleep or motionless on the 

 surface of the water, and may be mistaken for a log or snag. It 

 is impossible to take it in any other way than with the seine 

 or a very strong hook; the prongs of the gig cannot pierce the 

 scales, which are as hrad as flint, and even proof against lead 

 balls! Its flesh is not good to eat. It is a voracious fish. Its 

 vulgar names are diamond-fish (owing to its scales being cut 

 like diamonds), devil-fish, jackfish, garjack, etc. The snout 

 is large, convex above, very obtuse, the eyes small and black; 

 nostrils small, round before the eyes; mouth beneath the eyes, 



