408 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book IX. 



the rhombus in the lateral position of the body. The rhombus 

 lies with the right side upwards, 55 while in the sea-sparrow the 

 left side is uppermost. Some sea-fish, again, are long, as the 

 muraena and the conger. 



CHAP. 37. THE FINS OF FISH, AND THEIR MODE OF SWIMMING. 



Hence it is that there is a difference, 56 also, in the fins of 

 fish, which have been given them to serve in place of feet, none 

 having more than four, 57 some two M only, and others none. 59 

 It is in Lake Eucinus 60 only that there is a fish found that has 

 eight fins 61 for swimming. Those fishes which are long and 

 slimy, have only two at most, such, for instance, as eels and 

 congers : others, again, have none, such as the mursena, which 

 is also without gills. 62 All these fish 63 make their way in the 

 sea by an undulatory motion of the body, just as serpents do 

 on land ; on dry land, also, they are able to crawl along, and 

 hence those of this nature are more long-lived than the others. 

 Some of the flat-fish, also, have no fins, the pastinacse, 64 for in- 

 stance for these swim broad-wise those, also, which are 

 known as the "soft" fish, such as the polypi, for their feet 65 

 serve them in stead of fins. 



55 The pleuronectes in general, Cuvier says, have the two eyes situate on 

 the same side of the body. The turhot has them on the left side, and lies 

 on the sand on the right side, while the plaice or the flounder has the eyes 

 on the right, and lies on the left side the reverse of what Pliny says. 



56 Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. 6. 



57 By this Pliny means, Cuvier says, only the symmetrical fins, or pairs 

 of fins, the pectoral namely, which are in place of arms, and the ventral, 

 which are instead of feet ; of which, in fact, no fish has more than two 

 pairs. Pliny does not include in this statement the dorsal, anal, and pec- 

 toral fins. 



58 Eels and congers, for instance, which have but one pair. 



59 Mursenae and lampreys. ' 60 See B. iii. c. 17. 



61 Cuvier thinks that there can be no question that he is speaking here 

 of some mollusc or crustaceous animal. 



62 Muraenae, like eels, have gills, but the orifice, Cuvier says, is much 

 smaller than in the eel, and the opercula, under the skin, are so small as to 

 be hardly perceptible ; indeed, so much so, that modern naturalists, Lacepede, 

 for instance, have denied the fact of their existence. 



63 Aristotle, DePart. Anim. B. iv. c. 13, and Hist. Anim. B. i. c, 6. 



64 Or sting-ray. On the contrary, Cuvier says, the pastinaca, more than 

 any other ray, has large pectoral fins, horizontally placed ; but they adhere 

 so closely to the body that they do not appear to be fins, unless closely 

 examined. 



65 By this name, Cuvier says, he calls the tentacles or feelers, which 



