]84 



Acanthop. 



terygii. 



Scombc- 



ridae. 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



The only known species seems to have received the 

 same name from all nations. Gladhis, Ejiee, Dard, Pesce- 

 spada, Scliipcrd-fish, Su-ord-Jish, and the Greek generic 

 name of Xiphias, all indicate the formidable weapon with 

 which the front is armed. So remarkable a creature in 

 size and structure could indeed have scarcely remained 

 unknown at any period. All ancient wTiters within whose 

 province it could possibly fall, speak of it in such a man- 

 ner as clearly to prove an intimate knowledge of its nature. 

 They describe its offensive weapon, the blows which it in- 

 flicts, the dreadful combats which it sustains, the attacks 

 which are made upon it, and the stratagems by which, in 

 spite of its strength, it is lured to its destruction. Although, 

 in relation to its European distribution, the Mediterranean 

 may be said to be its chief dominion, yet the older indivi- 

 duals especially often enter the ocean, and astonish the 

 natives of colder climes by spreading along the northern 

 shores. It has been frequently captured on the British 

 coasts. It even enters the Baltic, and has been seen near 

 Lubeck, of an enormous size.' Pennant is doubtful of its 

 occurrence as a North American species, although it is 

 named as such by Catesby. It is not noticed by Dr Mit- 

 chell, in his description of the fishes of New York, and for 

 this reason Baron Cuvier does not admit that it crosses the 

 Atlantic. It is, however, fully described by Dr Smith, in 

 his Fishes of Massachusetts ; and the same writer as- 

 sures us, on the authority of an old pilot, that the sword- 

 fish is by no means uncommon off that portion of the Ame- 

 rican shore. It cannot, however, be traced far south in 

 any part of the western world ; whilst, like many of the 

 Mediterranean species, it advances along the African coast 

 as far as the Cape of Good Hope. 



The fish now alluded to is the Xiphias gladius, Linn. 

 (Plate CCCII. fig. 7.) Its horizontal snout is flat and 

 cutting, like the blade of a sword. The sides of its tail 

 are strongly carinated. It has but one dorsal fin, which 

 rises both before and behind, but of which the middle por- 

 tion in the adults becomes in some manner so worn away, 

 that an appearance is at last presented of two dorsal fins. 

 This v.ill be perfectly understood by comparing the figure 

 last referred to, with fig. 10 of the same plate, where we 

 have represented the young of the present species." 



Sword-fish, though by no means uncommon, are sel- 

 dom captured, owing to their extreme vigilance. Captain 

 Beechey informs us, that while in the Pacific Ocean, near 

 Easter Island, '■ as the line was hauling in, a large sword- 

 fish bit at the tin case which contained our thermometer, 

 but fortunately failed in carrying it off." Their mode of 

 capture in the Mediterranean may be likened to whale 

 fishing in miniature, and is said to be a very amusing and 

 exciting sport. A watchman placed upon a mast, or 

 standing on the summit of a neighbouring rock, gives 

 warning by signal when he sees a fish approach. The 

 fishermen then row towards it ; and, being so skilful as 

 frequently to strike the fish from a great distance, they 

 throw a harpoon into it attached to a long line. An ardu- 



We shall conclude by observing, that the sword-fish isAcanthop- 

 not only one of the largest species of the European seas, ^^'^O'f " 

 attaining sometimes to a length of fifteen feet, but that it 

 is also much esteemed as an article of diet. When young, 

 especially, the flesh is white, firm, and of excellent fla- 

 vour. 



2rf. Genus Tetrapterus, Rafinesque.^ Point of the 

 muzzle shaped like a stiletto ; ventrals consisting each of 

 one unjointed slender bone ; two small projecting crests, 

 like those of the mackerel, at each side of the base of the 

 caudal fin. 



The sole European species is T, helone of the Italian 

 author. It is a large Mediterranean species, of about six 

 feet in length, and weighing from 150 to 200 pounds. 



3rf. Genus Makaira, Lacep. Possesses the points of 

 the two small caudal crests of the preceding genus, but it 

 wants the ventral fins. 



We shall merely mention as an example the X. Makai- 

 ra, or short-snouted sword-fish of Shaw.'' 



Ath. Genus Histiophorus, Lacep. Characterised by 

 the beak and caudal crests of Tetrapterus, but the dorsal 

 fin is so greatly elevated as to serve as a sail when swim- 

 ming on the surface, and the vontrals are long, slender, 

 and composed of two rays. 



This genus contains that large and showy species {H. 

 indicus, Plate CCCII. fig. 9) known to the Malays by the 

 name of fan-fish, and called by the corresponding title of 

 sail-fish by the Dutch. It sometimes attains to so great a 

 size as to have been compared to a small whale. When 

 swimming near the surface, its dorsal fin may be seen pro- 

 jecting, from the distance of a league at sea. Many years 

 ago a letter was addressed to Sir Joseph Banks by the 

 captain of an East Indiaman, containing an account of the 

 astonishing strength occasionally exerted by this species. 

 The bottom of the ship was pierced through by it in such 

 a manner that the snout or sword was buried almost to its 

 base, and the animal itself was killed by the violence of 

 the blow. Accidents of a similar nature have also occur- 

 red with the common sword-fish ; and it is the opinion of 

 naturalists that both species mistake our wooden walls for 

 the vast abdomen of some great cetaceous animal which 

 they desire to encounter and destroy. 



We here figure, under the name of Histiophorus pul- 

 chellus, a beautiful dwarf species taken by M. Raynaud on 

 his return from the Cape to France in 1829. It measured 

 only four inches in length, and possesses certain special 

 characters, which lead to the conclusion that, notwith- 

 standing its minute size, it ought not to be regarded as 

 the young of any previously described species. See Plate 

 CCCII. fig. 1 1. 



We now enter upon a group of genera which form the 

 Second Great Tribe of Scomberidae, and are character- 

 ised by having the spiny rays of the back not contintwus, 

 but separate. 



ous struggle then commences, during which the aggres 



sors are sometimes pulled about by the 

 hours before they can get it into the boat. 



The Scomberidae, as has been already remarked, have the 

 fish for many caudal fin in general very strong, although the other verti- 

 cal fins are often extremely feeble. We have now noticed 



' Captain Crow, in a work recently published, relates the following spectacle, witnessed during a voyage to Memel. " One morn- 

 ing, during a calm, when near the Hebrides, all hands were called up at three a. m. to witness a battle between several of the fish 

 called thrashers, or fox-sharks {Carcliarius vuljies), and some sword-fish on one side, and an enormous whale on the other. It was in 

 the middle of summer, and the weather being clear, and the fish close to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity of witnessing the con- 

 test. As soon as the whale's back appeared above the water, the thrashers, springing several yards into the air, descended with great 

 violence upon the object of their rancour, and inflicted upon him the most severe slaps with their long tails, the sound of which re- 

 sembled the reports of muskets fired at a distance. The sword-fish, in^heir turn, attacked the distressed whale, stabbing from be- 

 low ; and thus beset on all sides, and wounded, when the poor creature appeared, the water around him was dyed with blood. In this 

 manner they continued tormenting and wounding him for many hours, until we lost sight of him ; and I have no doubt they in the 

 end completed his destruction." (Quoted from Mr Yarrell's British Fishes, p. 144.) 



' It was probably this disparity of the dorsal fin in different individuals that induced Dr Leach to apply the new name of Xi- 

 phiju Roiidclctii to the old species. (See Wcrnerian Memoirs, vol. ii. part i. p. 58.) 



• Caratteri di alciini nuovi geiieri, &c. delta Skilta, p. 54. * General Zoology, vol. iv. part i. p. 104, pi. 16, 



