54 GIANT FISHES 



and Cretaceous periods, and the well-preserved remains in the 

 Lithographic Stone of Bavaria reveal fishes which are indistin- 

 guishable from their descendants living to-day. 



Grow to a length of about 8 feet. 



The common Monk-fish or Angel-fish (S. squatina) is found 

 in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and is common on the 

 British coasts. Other species (5. armata, californica, australis, 

 japonica, etc.) occur in Chile, Mexico and California, Australia 

 and Japan. 



In its general appearance this curious creature is almost 

 exactly half-way, as it were, between the Sharks and the Rays, 

 a feature which is reflected in the local names of " Shark- 

 Ray " " Mongrel Skate " and so on. A study of its internal 

 anatomy, however, shows it to be a true Shark, related to the 

 Spined Sharks (Squalidae) — a conclusion that is confirmed by 

 the position of the external gill-clefts on the sides of the 

 head. The flattened body, the extension forward of the 

 pectoral fins, and the backward position of the dorsal fins, 

 are ray-like features, but there seems to be little doubt that 

 these have been independently acquired to fit the shark for a 

 life on the sea bottom, and do not necessarily indicate any 

 close relationship with the true Rays. A further argument 

 in favour of placing the Monk-fish with the sharks rather 

 than with the rays is provided by the method of swimming. 

 Progress is effected by means of a powerful sculling action of 

 the oar-like tail, and it makes little or no use of the pectoral 

 fins for this purpose. 



In feeding, however, the Monk-fish is more like a Ray, and 

 its normal diet includes flatfishes, shellfish, crustaceans, and 

 other animals found on the sea floor. One female examined 

 was found to have in its stomach several dabs and plaice, 

 portions of other fish, scales of mullet, not less than 50 

 fish-eyes, and a fair-sized bundle of a kind of seaweed known 

 as eel-grass. There is a record of a Monk-fish coming to the 

 surface and seizing a living cormorant by the wing, holding 

 it below the surface until it was drowned. 



The Monk-fish spends the winter offshore in rather deep 

 water, but approaches the coasts in spring for breeding 

 purposes. The young are born alive, generally in June or 

 July, and 25 have been recorded at a single birth. 



