PIKES, ARAPAIMAS, BEAKED SALMON, SCOPELIDS 257 



from Bombay and the coast of Malabar, and forms an indispensable adjunct to an Indian curry. 

 This fish apparently inhabits considerable depths, and when freshly taken is brilliantly 

 phosphorescent. Another edible species is the " Serge.\.\T Baker " of .\ustralia, of which a 

 photograph is given on page 653. 



With regard to the deep-sea Scopelids, it is interesting to note that, in addition to very 

 remarkable modifications of the e\-es and fins, and the production of phosphorescent light, 

 certain of the body-cavities are characterised b}- an intensely black coloration. The inside of 

 the mouth, the gills, and the lining of the abdomen, for example, are always so coloured in 

 those fishes which inhabit the deepest abysses. This coloration is difficult to account for, but 



Phtit h (('. SavdU-Ktni, f .Z.i.] 



[Mllttrd.t 



QUEENSLAND SMELT 



ji near ally of the Bummaloe, or Bcrr.hay Duck, that irtdispensable adjunct to an Indian curry 



it is generally supposed to be due to e.xcretory products. Another interesting point concerns 

 the air-bladder. Whenever this organ is present in the fishes of this or any other family 

 inhabiting the abysses of the ocean, it bursts before the unfortunate victim is brought to the 

 surface, owing to the enormous differences in pressure which obtain between the depths of 

 the sea and the surface. 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE SALMON FAMILY 



BV SIR HERBERT MA.XWELL, BART., F.R.S. 



ALTHOUGH the Salmon F"amily occupies a low place in the classification of fishes, yet 

 every member thereof is possessed of singular beauty of form and colour. The 

 AtL.ANTIC S.\LM0X, which is the species frequenting European rivers and those of the 

 eastern coast of North America, may be considered the t\-pe of the family, and certainly it 

 would be difficult to name any animal more perfectly adapted to its peculiar mode of life, 

 which is one of constant activity. A native of fresh-water, hatched in carl}- spring from eggs 

 laid in ri\'ers during the winter months, it spends from fifteen to twenty-seven months in the 

 shallows of the river, almost indistinguishable in habits and appearance from a small common 

 trout. Sometimes in the second spring after its birth, and failing that, always in the third 

 spring, the fish, having attained the length of 5 or 6 inches, undergoes a wonderful change: 

 its prevailing tints of olive and gold become overspread with a glittering coat of silver, known 



