602 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



eagerly devour them. Certain fishes, in appearance very weak, such 

 as the muraena, fight them with great advantage. 



Closely connected with the mackerel and other Scombridse, we 

 have the Bonita of the Tropics. This is a fish of considerable size, 

 celebrated by its pursuit in great shoals of the flying-fish, of which 

 we have already spoken. The Bonita (Thynnus pelamys) is not 

 unlike the mackerel in shape, but less compressed, and upwards of 

 twenty-five to thirty inches long. It is occasionally found on our 

 coast, but only as an accidental visitor, for its true home is the 



Fig. 392. The Sword-fish (Xiphias gludius). 



Tropics. It is a beautiful fish of a fine blue colour, with short pectoral 

 fins and four longitudinal bands on each side of the belly. It is easily 

 harpooned from the dolphin-striker, and appears to have the power of 

 generating electricity. Any one grasping the living fish is violently 

 shaken as in palsy, " agitans," so much so that the most resolute son 

 of Neptune cannot control his speech ; every attempt culminates in 

 an unintelligible spasmodic sputter. The instant the bonita is 

 dropped, the muscles resume their routine action. 



The Sword-fish, Xiphias gladius (Fig. 392), so called from the 



