Ribbon-Fishes. 



RIBBON-FISH. 4I - 



From the unicorn-fish the members of this family may be 

 distinguished by the absence of an anal fin, and by the caudal 

 (which, as in our figure, is rarely preserved in the adult state) being either 

 rudimental, or small and bent up above the axis of the body in a fan-like manner. 

 The band-like body, which may measure as much as 15 or 20 feet in length, with 

 a depth of a foot and a breadth of not more than an inch, terminates in a short 

 and deep head, furnished with large lateral eyes, and a small mouth ; the teeth 

 being feebly developed. The high dorsal fin is composed of a very numerous 

 series of rays, which are neither articulated nor branched, and has a detached 



UNICORN-FISH (^ uat. size). 



portion on the crown of the head elevated into tall filaments, 1 and the thoracically- 

 placed pelvic fins may consist either of several rays, or be reduced to a single long 

 filament. Scales are wanting; and the numerous vertebras as well as the other 

 bones, are remarkable for their softness and loose structure ; the flesh being like- 

 wise of a flabby consistence. The young, which are not unfrequently found at 

 the surface of the ocean, are very unlike the adults, having the body more like 

 that of an ordinary fish, but remarkable for the enormous development of the 

 rays of the front part of the dorsal and pelvic fins, and in a minor degree those of 

 the caudal likewise. The dorsal rays are, indeed, several times the length of the 

 whole fish, and are furnished at intervals with barb-like dilatations. Most ribbon- 

 fish are silvery in colour, with rosy fins. They are divided into three genera, of 



1 In our figure this part is represented as connected with the rest of the fin. 



