THE ANGLER FAMILY 337 



floating sea-weed such as the Sargasso, to which they cling by 

 means of their arm-like fins. These forms are narrow from side 

 to side, while the others which live on the bottom are broad and 

 flattened from above downwards. Some of the deep-sea species 

 present a most remarkable peculiarity : at the end of the tentacle 

 on the snout instead of a flag-like membrane is a little fleshy 

 knob which contains a luminous organ, so that they fish with 

 an incandescent lamp as an attraction. 



The Angler or Frog-fish (Lophius piscatorius}. 



Distinguishing Characters. Head large, broader than long ; 

 body short and tapering. Eye small. Mouth very wide, the 

 upper jaw shorter than the lower. Two rows of sharp teeth 

 in each jaw directed backwards and movable, a few on the 

 palate, none on the tongue. The first dorsal fin of six spines, 

 of which the first is on the snout, immediately behind the upper 

 jaw, and ends in a flag-like membrane. Ventral fin shorter 

 than the second dorsal. Numerous spines over the head, and 

 fringed lappets projecting from the skin all round the margin of 

 the body and on the tail. The colour is slaty-brown, with a net- 

 w r ork of darker lines ; lower side white. The usual size is from 

 2 to 3 feet in length, though specimens are occasionally taken 

 over 6 feet long. At Grimsby it is called the monk-fish, a name 

 which more properly belongs to RJiina squatina, a fish of the 

 skate tribe. 



Habitat. The angler is found everywhere on the east side of 

 the Atlantic, from the Shetland Isles to the Mediterranean, and 

 on the west side from Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras. It is 

 abundant in the North Sea, and all round the British and Irish 

 coasts. At Grimsby the flesh of the sides is cut out and sent to 

 market, so that by the fishermen of that port the fish are always 

 brought in, and fetch a certain price. 



Food. A full account of the food and habits of the angler is 

 given in Day's British Fishes (vol. i. p. 75). But there is one 

 sentence there which deserves to form the text for some addi- 

 tional remarks : " Its floating filaments kept in motion by 

 the tide decoy other fish, and the angler's tendril is no sooner 

 touched than the game is caught." Now, although the tentacle 



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