292 



L O WER VER TEBRA TES. 



objects, and may be seen at long distances. They sjx-nd whole days in this position, 

 and may be very easily approached and harpooned." It is from this habit of basking 

 in the sun that this species takes its popular name, sun-fish. 



The sunfish is said to feed chiefly 

 on Acalephs, called by the sailors 

 jelly-fish or sun-squalls. This seems 

 to be very doubtful, however, for 

 there is extremely little nutritious 

 matter in the Acalephs, and the 

 strong jaws would indicate a more 

 substantial food. 



Common as the species is, its mode 

 of rej)roduction and places of breed- 

 ing are still unknown. The sun-fish 

 has been said to undergo a startling 

 metamorphosis. There is a fish of 

 very small size, sometimes about an 

 inch in length, and with a very high 

 body, with dorsal and anal fins very 

 elevated, but without any posterior or 

 caudal fin. This little fish, known as 

 the Molacanthus aculeatus, is veiy 

 rare, but occasionally it has been 

 found even in mid-ocean, in the zones 

 occupied by the common sun-fish. 

 Some have even considered this little 

 fish to be the representative of a 

 family different from that of the- 

 sun-fish ; but it has been recently 

 contended that it is nothing but the young of the sun-fish. The evidence is not con- 

 clusive one way or another, but if the little fish is the young of the big, we have one 

 of the most remai'kable cases of development on record. 



The uses of the sun-fish are very limited, and there is a difference 

 of opinion in respect to its edible qualities. In Prof. Goode's opinion, 

 as a food fish the sun-fish is probably the most worthless in our waters; 

 the flesh is hard and thin, and, when cooked, separates into oil and 

 bunches of tough fibres. A popular writer, however, says the flesh 

 of the sun-fish is " white and well flavored, and is in much request 

 among sailors, who always luxuriate in fresh meat after the monotony 

 of salted provisions. In flavor and aspect it somewhat resembles 

 that of the skate." Its liver, it appears, is also of some use. This 

 is large, and " yields a very considerable amount of oil, which is 

 prized by the sailors as an infallible remedy against sprains, bruises, and rheumatic 

 affections." 



Order XI. — PEDICULATI. 



A group of fishes exhibiting much more trenchant characters than the Plectog- 

 nathi, and equally remarkable for the eccentricity of their shapes, is that known as 



Fig. 164. — Mola vwla, sun-fish. 



