2744 THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



fish can raise or depress their small eyes at will, end are generally found lying 

 sluggishly on the sea bottom in wait for their prey, frequently concealed among 

 stones. The filament in front of the mouth, which is moved by the stream of water 

 continually passing through the latter, doubtless acts as a lure to entice the small 

 creatures on which these fishes feed. In the allied Leptoscopus of New Zealand, 

 and Ichthyoscopus , ranging from India to Japan, there is but a single dorsal fin; the 

 latter genus agreeing with the true stargazers in having bony plates on the head, 

 whereas in the former the whole head is invested in a smooth skin. The Indian 

 /. inermis attains a length of two feet, and is stated to live in the mud. 



The common English weaver or stingbull ( Trachinus draco) 



shown in the lower figure of the illustration on p. 2743, is the best- 

 known representative of the typical genus of the second subfamily, in which the 

 eyes are more or less lateral in position, the lateral line continuous, and the hinder 

 part of the premaxillary bone devoid of an enlarged tooth; the dorsal fins being one 

 or two in number. In this particular genus the cleft of the mouth is very oblique; 

 the eyes have an upward inclination; the cycloid scales are very small; and there are 

 villiform teeth both in the jaws and on the bones of the palate. Of the two dorsal 

 fins, the first is very short and furnished with six or seven spines; and the lower 

 rays of the pectorals are simple. In the head both the preorbital and preopercular 

 bones are armed. The weavers have a somewhat peculiar geographical distribu- 

 tion, being found in the European seas, but unknown on the Atlantic coasts, 

 although reappearing in Chilian waters. In the British seas they are repre- 

 sented by the greater weaver (T. draco}, frequently measuring about a foot in 

 length, and the lesser weaver ( T. vipera}, which seldom exceeds six inches. Yarrell 

 writes that " the great weaver generally measures about twelve inches in length, 

 but has been known to attain seventeen inches; its food is the fry of other fishes, 

 and its flesh is excellent. It swims very near the bottom, is sometimes taken in 

 deep water by the trawl net, and occasionally with a baited hook attached to deep- 

 sea lines. When caught it should be handled with great caution. I have known, 

 says Mr. Couch, three men wounded successively in the hand by the same fish, and 

 the consequences have been in a few minutes felt as high as the shoulder. Smart 

 friction with oil soon restores the part to health, but such is the degree of danger, 

 or apprehension of it rather, arising from wounds inflicted by the spines of the 

 weavers, that our own fishermen almost invariably cut off the first dorsal fin and 

 both opercular spines before they bring them on shore." The poisonous secretion, 

 which is a modification of the ordinary mucus, is lodged in a deep double groove 

 in the spines of the dorsal fin and gill cover. There are numerous other genera of 

 the subfamily, among which the above-mentioned Bathydraco is noteworthy as be- 

 ing a deep-sea fish. 



The third subfamily regarded by many writers as a distinct 



family under the name of Latilida has been long known by the 

 genera Latilus and Pinguipes from various tropical and subtropical seas, and is char- 

 acterized by the body being covered with small scales, the lateral position of the 

 eyes, the continuous lateral line, and the presence of a large tooth on the hinder 

 part of the premaxillary bcnes. Especial interest attaches to the group, on account 



