184 GIANT FISHES 



fish, and almost nothing is known of its manner of life, so 

 that the following remarks refer exclusively to the Common 

 or Round-tailed Sun-fish. There is yet another Sun-fish, the 

 Oblong or Truncated Sun-fish (Ranzania truncata), with a 

 similar cosmopolitan distribution, but this fish rarely exceeds 

 a length of 2 feet. The Common Sun-fish is quite well known 

 round the British Isles, making its appearance about June 

 and generally departing as winter approaches. 



The name " Head-fishes " sometimes given to these grotesque 

 creatures is singularly appropriate, for a Sun-fish certainly 

 has the appearance of being composed of an enormous head 

 to which small fins are attached. Indeed, it looks for all the 

 world as if the hinder part of its body had been cut off just 

 behind the high dorsal and anal fins. It has been suggested 

 that its curious shape is in some way associated with its habit 

 of diving from the surface to deep water, but this explanation 

 has been questioned by many experts. 



Sun-fishes live in the open sea, and, although they are 

 often to be seen singly or in pairs, they seem to become 

 gregarious at certain seasons, when they band together in 

 small schools consisting of upwards of a dozen individuals. 

 As their name implies, they are fond of basking in the sun at 

 the surface of the sea during calm weather, and are often to 

 be observed lying more or less on their sides with the dorsal 

 fin out of the water. When swimming, they are said to 

 progress with a waving motion from side to side, " like a 

 man sculling a boat ", and with the dorsal fin projecting from 

 the water like that of a shark. " They swim," writes Mr. 

 Whitley, " by turning both the dorsal and anal fins to one 

 side at the same time. These fins are opposite one another, 

 and twist slightly as they are moved from side to side, the 

 result being rather like the action of a ship's propeller. The 

 side fins, or pectorals, flap continually, somewhat like the 

 ears of an elephant, and the stumpy tail acts as a rudder. As 

 an ' auxiliary engine ', either gill-opening can squirt a powerful 

 jet of water at will, and the sun-fish can also shoot water from 

 its beak-like mouth." 



Living mainly at or near to the surface, at least during 

 calm weather, Sun-fishes drift more or less passively with 

 the great ocean currents, and feed mainly upon the rich 



