276 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description. 



CHAP. IX. 



The nffikingjtth -"beneath, with secret chains 

 Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains. 



JONES'S OPPJAW. 



THE SUCKING FISH. 



THERE are only three known species of the 

 sucking fish ; these are occasionally seen in the 

 Mediterranean sea and the Pacific ocean. The 

 common sucking fish, which inhabits most parts 

 of the ocean, is usually about a loot in length ; 

 the head large, equal in bigness to the body, 

 which grows smaller gradually to the tail, which 

 is small. The back is convex and black, and thg 

 belly white. It has six fins, two growing from 

 behind the gills, two more under the throat, a 

 long one on the back, and opposite to it, under 

 the belly, another of the same form and size; the 

 tail is forked. 



What this fish has peculiar to itself is, that the 

 crown of the head is flat, and of an oval form, 

 with a ridge, or rising, running lengthways ; and 



