220 FISHES. ACANTHOPT. Xiphias. 



Length from 3 to 5 feet. Mouth small, tongue thick and rough, with re- 

 flected prickles. Lateral line irregular. Pectorals long ; the dorsal and anal 

 fins falcate at their commencement. D. 54, P. 28, V. 10, A. 26, C. 30. Se- 

 veral examples of this splendid fish have, at different times, been captured 

 in our seas, or cast ashore during storms. 



Gen. LXXXVIII. XIPHIAS. Swoudfish.— Snout sword- 

 shaped. No ventral fins. 



169. X. gladius. Common Swordfish. — Snout long, de- 

 pressed. Anal and dorsal fins entire. 



Xiphias, Sibb. Scot. 23. Will. Ich. 161 — X. Glad. Linn. Syst i. 432. 

 Perm. Brit. Zool. iii. 160 — X. Rondeletii, Leach, Wern. Mem. ii. 58. 

 Occasionally captured in the British seas. 



Length of the body from 6 to 15 feet, and of the snout from 2 to 3 feet. 

 Colour dusky above, the belly white. Gape wide ; the lower jaw short and 

 pointed. The dorsal fin begins over the gills, suddenly reaches its greatest, 

 elevation, then becomes very low, until near the tail, when it suffers a slight 

 elevation ; the intervening low membrane is frequently lacerated, and has 

 led several observers to conclude that this fish possessed two dorsal fins. The 

 anal fin bears a near resemblance to the dorsal in shape. On each side of the 

 body, at the setting on of the tail, there is an elevated ridge. In a specimen 

 which I inspected, (Brewster's Journal, vol. ii. 187-), found in the Tay, the 

 ridge on the left side was much more produced than on the right, and the 

 same side of the body was of a darker colour; as if the fish in swimming did 

 not always preserve a vertical position. The stomach contained numerous 

 remains of the Loligo sagittuta, and its mouth is so constructed as to be able 

 to swallow entire objects, not to tear off morsels, — circumstances which in- 

 duce me to call in question the accuracy of those who deem this fish as vora- 

 cious and destructive to Tunnies in particular. Sibbald first noticed this fish 

 as an inhabitant of our seas. Willoughby states his having seen them of 10 

 cubits. The snout of this fish has been supposed hard enough to penetrate 

 the planks of ships. Mr Scoresby, in the Edin. Phil. Journ. vol. iii. p. 411., 

 states an instance of a ship from the coast of Africa, the bow of which had 

 been penetrated by a bone, which he considers as the snout of the sword-fish. 

 The proportions and structure of this bone, as stated, intimate, that, if it be 

 the snout of a Xiphias, it must have belonged to an individual of a species 

 differing greatly from the common sort. 



Gen. LXXXIX. CENTRISCUS. — Body oval; compres- 

 sed ; belly carinated ; the first ray of the first dorsal fin a 

 serrated spine. 



170. C. Scolopax. Trumpet-Fish. — Scales small, rigid, point- 

 ed. Colour reddish. 



Scolopax Rondeletii, Will. Ich. 160. — Centriscus Scol. Block, t. 123. f. i. 



Don. Brit. Fishes, t. 63. Couch, Lin. Trans, xiv. 81), and ib. viii. 358. 



— Occasionally on the south-western coasts of England. 



Length about 4 inches. The snout occupies about one-third of the length 



of the fish. Eyes large, irides white, with a reddish tinge. 1st D. 4, 2d D. 9; 



P. 15 ; V. 7 ; A. 13 ; C. 15. — This fish may be considered as one of the rare 



kinds, but interesting as the only species we can claim to our Fauna of the 



interesting group to which it belongs. 



