94 THE STORY OF FISH LIFE. 



and their supporting rays are produced far out- 

 wards beyond the fin-membrane in the form of 

 long slender filaments. The cavern-like mouth 

 of this ugly and repulsive monster, it should be 

 noticed, is liberally beset with teeth ; they fringe 

 its jaws, and cover the roof of its mouth. 

 Moreover, they are hinged so as to move freely 

 backwards on pressure, allowing ready ingress 

 but no escape, for any backward wriggling of the 

 newly injected victim would impale him in their 

 inturned points. 



The voracity of fishes varies much. Sea-fishes 

 would appear on the whole to be more voracious 

 than fresh-water species; since the latter may 

 survive without food for weeks or even months, 

 sea-fishes will succumb to a fast of a few days. 

 The capacity of the stomach of some marine 

 fishes is almost beyond belief. This is especially 

 the case with many deep-sea forms, where food 

 is but seldom to be come at, and as much as 

 possible must therefore be taken at a time. Our 

 illustration affords us a graphic example of this, 

 wherein the swallower, known as Chiasmodus 

 niger^ has succeeded in stowing away a fish more 

 than twice his own size (fig. 9). The stomach and 

 external skin in such species is remarkably dis- 

 tensible. Note the position of the displaced 

 pelvic (ventral) and anal fins. The action of 

 swallowing is performed, not as is usual with 

 fishes, by means of the muscles of the gullet, 

 but by the action of the jaws as in snakes. 

 These fishes, as Dr GKinther has remarked, can- 

 not be said to swallow their food, but rather to 

 draw themselves over their victim, in the fashion 



