TEETH AND FOOD 



131 



flesh neatly picked off the bones, although the man's clothes 

 were undamaged. They do not attain to any great size, the 

 largest scarcely exceeding a length of two feet, but their lack 

 of inches is amply made up for by their voracity, fearlessness, 

 and numbers. 



For sheer ferocity and cold-blooded, murderous habits the 

 Blue-fish (Pomatomus) , a silvery blue-backed fish, not unlike the 

 Bass in appearance, is probably unique (Fig. 55c). This 

 species is found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic, swimming 



Fig. 56. — JAWS AND TEETH. 



A. Skull of Rabbit-fish (Chimaera monstrosa),xi ; b. Jaws of Parrot-fish 

 (Pseudoscarus sp.), X i ; c. Skull of Caribe or Piraya {Serrasahnus ternetzi), X I ; 

 D. Head of Grey Mullet (Mugil auratiis),A^ ; e. Head of Wide-mouth 

 (Haplostomias tentaculatus), X ^ ; F. Head of Lancet-fish (Aleptdosaurus ferox), 



Xi. 



in large companies near the surface, and reaches a weight of 

 fifteen pounds. "The Blue-fish has been well Hkened to an 

 animated chopping machine," observes Professor Baird, "the 

 business of which is to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as 

 many fish as possible in a given space of time. . . . Going in 

 large schools in pursuit of fish not much inferior to themselves 

 in size, they move along like a pack of hungry wolves, destroying 

 everything before them. Their trail is marked by fragments of 

 fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, where the fish 

 is too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be 

 bitten oflf and the anterior part allowed to float away or sink. 



