216 ANGLER. 



mention has been made of the humeral spine, the number of 

 its fin rays, (dorsal twelve and anal eleven,) and the absence 

 of the true L. Budegassa in the northern seas, prove its 

 identity with L. pUcatorius.''^ 



A remarkable portion of this subject is the rarity of this 

 young condition, as compared with the commonness of the 

 full-grown fish, and its prolific character. Mr. Thompson 

 weighed the roe in an Angler which measured four feet and 

 a half in length, and found the bulk enclosed in the mem- 

 brane to amount to one pound and thirteen ounces; from 

 which, with due allowance for the superfluous materials he 

 calculated the number of grains to amount to almost a million 

 and a half. 



This fish is not thought of for the table with us; but 

 Jonston quotes an unknown author, Alexandrides, for the fact 

 that it was produced at a feast given by Cotys, King of 

 Thrace; and, according to Antiphonis the belly was particularly 

 esteemed. Willoughby says that when boiled the flesh is white, 

 and in taste is like a frog; to which we may add that, 

 according to Risso, a fish which he calls Genelli, and which 

 he considers a variety of the Angler, is a delicious dish, as 

 has also been reported by a private individual of our own 

 Angler. 



A large example of this species may measure between five 

 and six feet in length, but the specimen described was three 

 feet, and its breadth, across the widest expansion of the pec- 

 toral fins, about twenty-two inches. The head broad and 

 rounded, forming a large proportion of the bulk; the bod)'- 

 tapering behind the pectoral fins, and more compressed towards 

 the tail. Head studded with bony tubercles, six in number, 

 with a depression from the upper jaw upward between the 

 rows, in which the processes of the maxillary bone are received. 

 The under jaw projects, and is capable of great protrusion. 

 Breadth of the mouth in this example ten inches, with two 

 or three rows of long sharp teeth, the innermost row generally 

 the stoutest and longest, especially in the lower jaw, and each 

 tooth through much of its length encased in a separate 

 membranous covering; in front of the palate also are rows of 

 strong teeth, and the same in the floor of the mouth in the 

 place of a tongue. Eyes high on the head, separate, with a 



