Tilt: 



tea 



The color of this species is vi.il.-t ^jH.tt.^1 profusely with Hack, and the fins are marked 

 with sundry Ixild bars ami dots. In length it often attain-- three f.trt. 



I'm remarkable HAND-FISH, or SNAKE-FISH (Cepola rubrscent), is an example of a curious 



famih, consisting <>f one genus only, and alxxit --\. u -). -i. -. 



The Hand -fish is not uncommon in the Mediterranean. though it is seldom taken <>IT the 

 coast*. It> li\ is long and much ((impressed, like that of the vaagmar, ali.-.i.|\ 

 and when winding its way throiiL'h tin- translucent water, its carmine body with 

 the glittering scaly mail have earned fr it the [opnlar names of l-'n:i l-'i \MI. and l.'i i> 



Little is known of ita habits, except that it is a -lion- l..\ ing fish, delighting to baak under 

 the heavy maaBes of sheltering sea-weed, and that it feed smostly on mollu.sks and crnstacea. 

 Several specimens of this fish have been found on the beach after a storm ; and Mr. Yarrell 



BAKCA - 



remnrks, with some acumen, that all the fish formed after this pattern, with their compressed 

 bodies affording little resistance to the water, and their length preventing the concentration 

 of muscular force upon a single centre of motion, are ill fitted for combating tempestuous 

 waters, and are flung about at the mercy of the waves. 



The head of the Band-fish is small, and the eye is full and very large, ita diameter being 

 nearly half the depth of the head. The body is greatly compressed, slender, and very smooth ; 

 the scales being minute and glittering in the sunbeams. The dorsal fin extends from the top 

 of the head to the end of the tail, and the anal fin i.s nearly aa long. Its color is rather vari- 

 able, shades of purple and orange exhibiting themselves in certain specimens. In all examples, 

 however, red is the predominant hue. The length of the adult Band-fish is usually about 

 fifteen or twenty inches. 



Is the curious species which Mom; to the genus Centris.-jd, or spike-bearing fishes, the 

 body is much compressed, and one of the spines of the first dorsal fin is long, sharp, and 

 powerful. The bones which form the front of the head are greatly prolonged, and are modi- 

 fied into a kind of long tube, at the end of which is placed the narrow month. It is thought 

 that the fish obtains ita food by sucking it along the tube, the needful vacuum being formed 

 by the dilatation of the throat. 



The BKLLOWS-FISH, sometimes called the TIM MI-KI -n-it and the SKA SNIPE, is most com- 

 mon in the Mediterranean. It prefers to reside in moderately deep water, and is mostly found 

 where the bottom of the sea Ls muddy. Its food is not ]m-<-ise|y known, but is thought to 

 consist of minute marine animals. The first spine of the dorsal tin is enormously huge, strong, 

 sharply pointed, and armed on its under surface with a row of saw-like teeth, that must render 

 it a very efficient weapon of offence. The spine is also movable. The flesh of this fish is eat- 



