OPAIIS. 



121 



111 Sweden the Swoi'dtisli is taken only occasionally, 

 or it heeonies stranded on a sandbank or a shelviiif^ 

 beach, having ventured too near shore in search of" 

 food. But in the Mediterranean, esi)ecially off the coast 

 of" Sicily, and in Nortli America, it is fisiied for with 

 great vigour and no small profit, for its flesh is greatly 

 valued. It is often liarpooned from a, boat or from a 

 .ship's bowsprit, where the Americans have a special place 

 for the harpooner to stand. The Italians set watchmen 

 on the cliff's to give the fishing-boats notice of the 

 approach of the Swordtish, and in the boats tliey keep 

 a look-out from the mast-head. As tlie Swordfish often 



swims at tlie surface, sometimes so high that tlie top 

 of the florsal tin projects al)ove the water, it is easily 

 caught sighi of. The fishing has a dash of tlie cliarm 

 of whaling, it"or it cannot be considered altogether free 

 from danger, when the Swordfish at full speed takes 

 out tlie line to the very end, and when we remember 

 how luaiiy tales there are of the assaults it makes in 

 selfdefence u])on a l)oat. The Swordfish is also taken with 

 hook and linc!, but, as in the mackerel-net and raadrague, 

 more seldom. Bkowx-Gooije mentions the capture of 

 a Swordfish on a long-line set for Halibut, at as great 

 a deiitli as 27.') fathoms. 



Fam. LAMPRIDIDiE. 



F'orm of the hoihi high, compressed, oval. Eyes of average size. External hones of the head ivith smooth edges". 

 Scales small, fitin. cycloid, and deciduous; in the pectoral region somewhat larger than in the other parts of 

 the body. Spinous-rayed part of the dorsal and anal fins extremely short. No finlets. No free spinous ray in 

 front of the anal fin. No jair-teeth, hut strong, pointed pharyngeal teeth. Jaws short and about equal in length. 

 Supraoccipital crest high and continued forward over the frontal and ethmoid bones. Base of the pectoral fins 

 horizontal. Ventral fins thoracic, though set fairly far hack, with from 14 to 17 rays. Gill-openings large: 

 branch iostegal membranes free at the isthmus. Branchiostegal rays 6" {or 7?). Branched rays in the caudal fin 

 about 17. Vertebrae from 43 to 48, the 22nd of which {taking the latter number) bears the last ribs. 



Gill'' founded a separate family, Lamprididce, 

 witliin the group Scondiroidea, to receive the single 

 genus that represents this family, while Moreau'' has 

 given the same definition to a sub-family, Lamprini, 

 within the family of the Srombridce. These arrange- 

 ments may be regarded as distinctions without a real 

 difference. 



The relation of this family to the preceding ones 

 is expressed in several characters which indicate the 

 highest stage of the metamorphosis which prevails among 

 several Scombromorph families. Among these characters 

 are the disappearance of the jaw-teeth, the horizontal 

 base of the pointed, falciform, pectoral fins, which in 

 form resemble the ventral fins and the anterior part 

 of the dorsal fin, and the absence of the anterior, spi- 

 nous-rayed dorsal. To these we may add another 

 character, however, which is more indicative of a lower 

 stage of development, namely, the large number of 



" Juvenile stage luikiiowi]. 



' An: Fam. Fish., Smiths. Misc. Cull., No. 247, p. 9. 



-^ Hht. Nat. Potss. Fr.. tome 2, p. 48.?. 



Scandinarinn f-isfits. 



rays in the \entral fins, which are set comparatively 

 far back. Their situation is indeed due to their close 

 connexion with the shoulder-girdle, which is much 

 developed posteriorly, and has thus removed the ventral 

 fins with it. But the pelvic bones, though large, are 

 hung, not, as is generally the case, on the clavicle, 

 but on the high and broad coracoid bones. Another 

 peculiarity of the pectoral fins is the anomalopterous 

 character of their basal bones, the first three of which 

 are low, and united with the scapular bones — the 

 first of all completely, without the least vi-sible suture; 

 the other two retaining the suture — the last higher, 

 but still broad, and closely united b}' a cartilage witii 

 the third basal bone and also with the coracoid bone. 

 The glenoid surfaces of the fir.st two basal bones are 

 sharply convex, thus indicating unusual power in the 

 perpendicular motions of the pectoral fins; the surface 

 of the last two, on the other hand, is concave, to re- 



16 



