Odd Fish 175 



the public, and common sense suggests 

 that a pictorial representation of the fish 

 be appended beneath such well-meant 

 but ambiguous warnings. Two species of 

 weever are found off the English coast, a 

 large form, and a small form, the venom 

 of the latter, curiously enough, being the 

 more potent. 



The richly marbled Morays or Spotted 

 Ells, abundant in tropical and sub- 

 tropical seas are sometimes poisonous. 

 One species found favour with the ancient 

 Romans who, money being no object, 

 cut off sheltered coves and even whole 

 bays as fattening ponds for the fish. It 

 is recorded that 6,000 of these eels, 

 averaging five feet in length, were dished 

 up at one famous banquet, and according 

 to Gibbon and other historians, slaves 

 were sometimes used as food for the 

 creatures since it was believed that 

 human flesh enhanced their flavour. The 

 Muraenas poison is remarkable in that 



