FISHES. 277 



lost shark, as to lead the officers of the Thomas Gren- 

 ville to remark that we had a Pilot-fish painted on 

 the rudder of the boat. 



Their attendance upon sharks is somewhat capri- 

 cious : we have seen more than five associated with one 

 shark, while many others of the latter tribe, and as- 

 sembled in the water at the same time, have not been 

 accompanied by one of these fishes. They have evidently 

 nothing to dread from the voracious companion they 

 select, but swim around, and often a few inches ahead 

 of him, as either their convenience or caprice may 

 dictate. 



THE TRANSPARENT SOLE. 



(Achirus Pellucidus, N. Sp.} 



The entire length of this flat-fish is two inches. Its 

 body is thin, circular, smooth, and colourless, (with 

 the exception of a slender pink streak on the margin of 

 the back, and a few similar lines on the sides,) and is 

 as transparent as the body of the Leptocephalus. It 

 has no pectoral fins ; and the direction of the head is 

 reversed, or turned to the left when the back of the fish 

 is presented to the observer. Both eyes are placed on 

 one side of the head, as is general with the Pleuronectes 

 family and its sub-genus Achirus. Iris silvery. The 

 fins are composed of innumerable small bony rays, sur- 

 rounding the body. A perfect skeleton obtains, but it 

 is very delicate, and scarcely to be detected in the re- 

 cent fish; and any appearance of viscera is equally 

 indistinct. 



Two examples of this extraordinary fish were taken, 

 near the surface, in the Pacific Ocean : the one in lat. 



