EPHIPPUS FABER. Ill 



Splanchnology. The liver is large, of rather a dark colour, with its central or transverse portion 

 very thick and continuous, with the right and left lobes without a fissure ; both lobes are full 

 in front, and project equally into the hypochondria, though the left is larger and much longer. 

 The gall-bladder is oval and large, but does not extend beyond the right lobe. The stomach is 

 very large, as it extends almost the entire length of the abdominal cavity ; near the vent it turns 

 forward, and thus forms the pyloric portions, having scarcely any cul de sac. There are four 

 coBcal appendages, rather slender, and nearly as long as the stomach. The small intestine is 

 very long, more than two feet in a fish of six inches in length, and has numerous convolutions con- 

 nected by a loose mesentery. The testicles are large and sub-oval, elongated ; the ovaries, when . 

 full, are sub-triangular, with their bases towards the spine. The air-bladder is large, bifid in front, 

 and has two slender, prolonged horns behind, that bend downwards and follow the course of the 

 inter-spinal bones of the anal fin. The kidney is large before, less so in the middle, with a 

 small accessory lobe behind. 



Habits. But little is kno'vvn of the habits of the Aiigel-fish ; it appears on 

 our shores in May or June, and is then taken in considerable numbers with 

 the seine. 



Geographical Distribution. The Ephippus faber is found along the Atlantic 

 coast of America, from New York to Brazil. 



* 



General Remarks. This fish seems to have been first described by Sir Hans 

 Sloane, in his History of Jamaica ; but Broussonet * first arranged it with the 

 genus Chcetodon, and with the specific name faher, which he took from Sloane. 

 Later ichthyologists have introduced much confusion, as may be seen by a glance 

 at the list of sjTionymes; which has, however, been cleared up by Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes, who have given the best description of this animal hitherto 

 published. 



• Ichth., Dec. i., n. iv., t. 4. 



