PRICKLY-FINNED FISHES. 



295 



3. Ophidium or Gilthead. The body sword- 

 like ; the head blunt ; the fin covering the 

 gills with seven spines ; the opening of the 

 mouth side-ways ; the fins of the back, the 

 anus, and the tail, all joining together ; the 

 most beautiful of all fishes, covered over with 

 green, gold, and silver ; it is by sailors called 

 the dolphin, and gives chase to the flying- 

 fish. 



Prickly -finned Jugular Fish. 



4. The Trachinus or Weever. The body 

 oblong ; the head obtuse ; the bones covering 



the gills jagged at the bottom ; the fins cover- 

 ing the gills with six spines ; the anus near 

 the breast ; buries itself in the sands, leaving 

 only its nose out ; and if trod upon, immedi- 

 ately strikes with the spines that form its 

 dorsal fins, which are venomous and dan- 

 gerous. 



5. The Uranoscopus. The body wedge- 

 like ; the head almost round, and larger than 

 the body; the mouth flat; the eyes on the top 

 of the head ; the fin covering the gills with 



the head of which alone weighed seventy-five pounds, 

 iiiid was furnished with a snout three feet long. 

 The sword-fish is very active in its movements and vor- 

 acious in its appetite. It feeds on the smaller kinds of 

 fish, which it kills by piercing them with its sword. It 

 is said to be in particular a very great enemy to the 

 tunny, which is described byBelon to be as much alarmed 

 by its appearance as a sheep is at the sight of a wolf. 



This fish is highly esteemed as an article of food by 

 the Sicilians, who buy it up eagerly at any price at the 

 commencement of the season, which lasts from May to 

 August. They cut it into pieces, and salt it for future 

 use. This process was in ancient times particularly 

 performed at the town of Thuri in the bay of Tarentum, 

 whence the fish was called tomus thurianus. A de- 

 scription of the ancient manner of taking this fish has 

 been left us by Strabo, from which it appears that the 

 process was the same as that now in use. The operation 

 resembles whale fishing on a small scale. 



The broad-finned sword-fish (xiphias piatypterus) i-s of 

 a thinner and more elegant form than the preceding, 

 and is also distinguished by an extremely broad back 

 fin, and by very long sharp-pointed thoracic appendages, 

 which are entirely wanting in the other. The general 

 colour of the fish is of a silvery-bluish white, except in 

 the back, head, tail, and fins, which in the living animal 

 are of a deep blue, fading into brown in the dried speci- 

 mens. This fish is found in the Brazilian and East 

 Indian seas, and also in the Northern seas, where and 

 elsewhere it is a great enemy to whales, piercing them 

 with its formidable weapon. A specimen of this fish 

 occupies a very conspicuous situation at the British 

 Museum in a distinct case, which also contains three 

 specimens of detached swords. In the same room there 

 is a small specimen of the common sword-fish. 



six spines ; the anus in the middle of the body; 

 an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sea. 



6. Callyonymus or Dragonel. The body 

 almost wedge-like ; the head broad, and larger 

 than the body; the mouth even with the body ; 

 the bony covering of the gills close shut ; the 

 opening to the gills behind the head ; the fin 

 covering the gills with six spines ; an inhabi- 

 tant of the Atlantic ocean. 



7. The Blennius or Bteruiy. The body ob- 

 long ; the head obtusely bevel ; the teeth a 

 single range ; the fin covering the gills with 

 six spines ; the ventral-fins have two small 

 blunt bones in each ; a species of this animal 

 is viviparous. 



Prickly finned Thoracic Fish. 



8. The Gobius or Gudgeon. The body 

 round and oblong ; the head with two little 



holes between the eyes, one before the other; 

 the fin covering the gills with four spines ; the 

 ventral fins joined together. 



9. The Cepola. The body sword-like ; the 

 head blunt; the mouth flat ; the fin covering 

 the gills with six spines; the fins distinct; 

 an inhabitant of the Mediterranean sea. 



The captain of an East ladiaman sent to Sir Joseph 

 Banks an account of an astonishing but not singular in. 

 stance of the strength of an individual of this broad-fin- 

 ned species : the bottom of his ship was pierced through 

 by its sword in such a manner that it was completely 

 imbedded, or driven through almost to its base, the 

 animal having been killed with the violence of the shock. 

 It is a fortunate circumstance that the fish is generally 

 either killed in this manner or else perishes from being 

 unable to withdraw its weapon, for could it eflect this 

 object, the vessel must inevitably founder in consequence 

 of the leak ; and indeed instances are recorded in which 

 some vessels, probably old or of a slight description, have 

 been greatly endangered, or even lost, in consequence 

 of having been struck by a sword-fish. In the present 

 instance, the wood, with the sword imbedded in it, was 

 sawed out, and is now in the British Museum, where 

 it forms one of the detached swords just mentioned. 



The sword-fish aiid the whale are said never to meet 

 without coming to battle ; and the former has the repnte 

 of being always the aggressor. Sometimes two of them 

 join against one whale, in which the combat is by no 

 means equal. When the whale discovers the sword-fish 

 darting upon him, he dives to the bottom, but is closely 

 pursued by his antagonist, who compels him again to 

 rise to the surface. It would seem that the sword-fish 

 aims its formidable thrusts at vessels, not so much from 

 a disposition to attack every thing that falls in ita "ay 

 as under the impression that the said vessels are whales, 

 or other great fish : and may not the fact, that vessels 

 are rarely if ever so attacked in the Mediterranean, be 

 in a great degree owing to this, that there are not in 

 that sea any fish so large that a sword-fish of ordinary 

 penetration could mistake a ship for them. 



