SOFT-RAYED BONY FISHES 113 



curiosity. The usual fate of these fish is to be carried round 

 and exhibited as " sea serpents ", but their fragile, watery 

 bodies soon shrivel up, and unless they are carefully preserved 

 without delay, they are useless as museum specimens. On two 

 occasions an active living Oar-fish has been seen by man, and 

 in each case the observer was very greatly impressed by its 

 vivid hues and curious serpentine movements. One was a 

 small specimen, not more than 2 feet long, and was seen by 

 Mr. Holder, at Avalon Bay, Southern California ; the other 

 was 11 feet 9 inches long without the tail, which had been 

 bitten off, and was seen alive, and subsequently captured by 

 Professor Wood Jones in the Indo-Australian Archipelago. 



It was noticed that when excited or touched with a hook or 

 rope the Oar-fish erected the crest-like front end of its dorsal 

 fin, and this fact is of some interest. There can be little doubt 

 that stories of " sea serpents ", which describe the monster as 

 having the head of a horse with a flaming red mane, have as 

 their basis a large Oar-fish seen swimming at the surface of 

 the sea with its scarlet dorsal crest erect. 



Little is known of the breeding habits of the Oar-fishes, but 

 the eggs are of the buoyant type, and some of the young 

 stages have now been recognized and described. These have 

 the front rays of the dorsal fin and those of the pelvics drawn 

 out into long streamers, ornamented with small tags or 

 processes. 



The flesh is quite useless as food, and it is recorded that in 

 Scandinavia even dogs refused to eat it, whether offered raw 

 or cooked. 



The Oar-fish is also known as " King of the Herrings ", as it 

 was at one time believed to precede or accompany the herring 

 shoals. The scientific name, Regalecus, is a combination of two 

 Latin words : regalis (from rex, a king), and halec, fish-sauce 

 (herring). An ancient belief was that to harm this fish would 

 be to drive the herring away. The name " Oar-fish ", of 

 course, refers to the form of the long pelvic fins, and " Ribbon 

 fish " is self-explanatory. The Japanese call it " Dugunoria- 

 tatori ", which translated literally means " Cock of the palace 

 under the sea ". 



