FISHES 85 



used for crawling, and also for heaping up loose material around 

 its body. When in wait for prey it remains motionless, and 

 there are tags of skin attached to the margins of the jaw which 

 float out and look like bits of sea-weed. And further, it is 

 possessed of a fishing-rod carrying a " lure ", for the long spines of 

 the first dorsal fin are unconnected by membrane, and the first of 



Fig. 366. Angler-Fish (Lophius piscatorius} 



them broadens out into a sort of flap, which waves about a little 

 way above the mouth, exciting the curiosity of smaller fishes. 

 If these are so foolhardy as to venture near, the Angler makes 

 a sudden spring and engulfs them in his capacious mouth. 



A still more remarkable arrangement as regards the "lure" 

 is to be found in a related species, the Deep-sea Angler {Melano- 

 cetus Murrayi) (fig. 367), which inhabits depths of from 1850 

 to 2450 fathoms. The arrangement is described in the following 

 quotation from Hickson (The Fauna of the Deep Sea): "The 

 eyes are very small indeed, the mouth huge and armed with 

 long, uneven, rasp-like teeth. At the end of the fishing-rod 

 tentacle hanging over the mouth there is an organ that has been 



