122 



THE LARGE-EYED POMATOME. 



Pomatomus telescopium, — Risso. 



PLATE XIII. 



Des Pomatomes Cuv. et Valen. Hist. Nat. des Poissons, 



ii. 169. 



D. 7-1.10; A. 2.9; C. 17; P. 18; V. 1.5. 



This fish, according to M. Risso, is very rarely 

 taken, never almost leaving the bottom of the 

 deep sea. At Nice he was only aware of two 

 specimens being taken during thirty years. The 

 flesh is well-tasted, tender, and firm. It is 

 remarkable for the immense size of the eyes, 

 which occupy nearly the whole cheek, and is an 

 example of that form of the organ, which we 

 mentioned (p. 74) occurred in those species 

 which generally kept at a depth beyond the 

 penetration of the sun's rays, and which might 

 be called nocturnal. Whether its sight is acute, 

 or what peculiarities there are in the structure of 

 the eye and its other organs, is yet a desideratum 

 among ichthyologists, the rarity of the species 

 having hitherto prevented examination. The 

 cheeks and opercles are covered with scales ; 

 the form of the preopercle is remarkable in the 



