BARRACUDAS, REMORAS AND OTHERS 187 



basking at the surface, and it may be noted that the 

 inhabitants of the Island of Aran use the same name for the 

 Basking Shark, which has a similar habit. Unfortunately, 

 the popular name of " Sun-fishes " is also given to a group 

 of small Perch-like fishes found in the rivers and streams 

 of North America. The scientific name, Mola, is a Latin » 

 word meaning " millstone ,: , and refers to the general shape 

 of the fish. 



LOBE-FINS. 



(Family Coelacanthid.e.) 



A Living Fossil [Latimeria chalumnae). (After Smith.) 



The ancient order of Crossopterygian fishes, supposed to have 

 been extinct since the Age of the Dinosaurs, startled the 

 scientific world by staging a revival off the coast of South 

 Africa at Christmastide, 1938. A single specimen caught in a 

 trawl-net at a depth of 40 fathoms was of a bright blue colour 

 and extremely oily. It weighed 127 lb. and was just 5 feet 

 long, so perhaps should not be included as a "giant fish." 

 But according to reliable evidence another fish exactly similar, 

 but over 6 feet long, was seen washed up by the tide near East 

 London, in the Museum of which town this unique living fossil 

 is exhibited. 



