ANGLER FISHES GILL. 569 



fish was such that it, and its progeny so favored, survived the " strug- 

 gle for existence " and, through the slight useful modifications super- 

 vening, the specialized illicium and esca of the modern fishes became 

 perfected. But this was not all. 



Some stout-bodied Pediculates resorted to deep and deeper waters, 

 where the light from the sun was faint or even ceased, and a wonder- 

 ful provision was at last developed by kindly nature which replaced 

 the sun's rays by some reflected from the fish itself. In fact the 

 illicium has developed into a rod with a bulb having a phosphorescent 

 terminal portion and the " bait " round it has been also modified and 

 variously added to ; the fish has also had superadded to its fishing 

 apparatus a lantern (lamjDas) and wormlike lures galore. How 

 efficient such an apparatus must be in the dark depths where these 

 angler fishes dwell may' be judged from the fact that special laws 

 have been enacted in some countries against the use of torches and 

 other lights for night fishing because of their deadly attractiveness. 

 Not only the curiosity of the little deep-sea fishes but their appetite 

 is appealed to by the wormlike objects close to or in relief against 

 the phosphorescent bulb of the anglers. 



Only a few of the many varieties of the torch-bearing anglers 

 need be noticed here. They all occur in the family of deep-sea 

 Pediculates known as the " Ceratiids." 



Generally the interspinal bone is directed forward and mostly con- 

 cealed, and the articulating spine or rod extends upward ; the termi- 

 nal portion of the s^^ine is provided with a bulbiform apj^aratus, with 

 a luminiferous terminal surface and various appendages in relief 

 against it. Often the appendages are curiously developed, sometimes 

 filiform and simple, as in Ceratias; sometimes papilliform and numer- 

 ous, as in Melanocetus. Occasionally the rod is very stout and the 

 wormlike appendages numerous and manifest on the rod as well as 

 around the bulb; in the Ilimantolophi of the Atlantic and Pacific 

 (Japan) the furniture is carried to an extreme. 



Rarely the interspinal bone appears to be exserted and prolonged 

 and the spine or rod articulated a long distance from the back, as in 

 Mancalias. 



A few other Pediculates (the Gigantactis is the only one known) 

 with a slender body developed in another direction. The illicium 

 and snout conjoined extended far forward in a horizontal direction. 



All the Pediculates till now considered have the first dorsal spine 

 really dorsal, or at least rostral. Now we may take notice of some 

 that reverse the usual order of nature. This reversal is manifested 

 in the family of Ogcocephalids (better known as Malthids). 



Not uncommon along the southern coasts are certain fishes of this 

 family, inhabiting shallow waters with a sandy bottom. They are of 

 toad-like appearance, and rest on their arms as a toad does on its hind 

 legs, while the fins are far in advance and assume the function of fore 



