HALIEUTICA, II. 196-213 



they take a common meal together.* Thus even 

 among the sw-imming tribes that travel in the water 

 some are crafty and some are stupid, as among us 

 men, and not all have a right understanding. 



Mark now a fish that exceeds all in stupidity, even 

 the Day-sleeper,^ lazy beyond all that the sea breeds. 

 The eyes in his head are turned upward and the 

 ravenous mouth between his eyes. Always he Hes 

 all day stretched in the sands asleep and only at 

 night does he awake and wander abroad ; wherefore 

 he is also called the Bat. But an evil doom is his for his 

 Hmitless appetite. For he knows no satiety of food 

 nor any measure, but in his shameless belly he nurses 

 gluttony, rabid and endless, nor would he cease from 

 feeding if food were at hand, till his belly itself 

 burst utterly in the midst and himself fall flat upon 

 his back or some other fish kill him, gorged with his 

 latest meal. This sign I tell you of his ravenous 



KoWiibvvfios of Aristotle with Uranoscopus scaler is proved 

 by A. 506 b 10 Ix^' ^^ '^'i' ^ Ka\\iihvvu.o% (tt]v x°^'')''i the gall- 

 bladder) iirl Tifi ijiruTi, offirep fx^ei ueyiffTtjv tQv IxOi'uv ihs Kara 

 fidyeOos, which is true of the Uranoscopus, but not of the 

 CalUonymus of Linnaeus (Cuv. et Val. xii. p. 362). Cf. Ael. 

 xiii. + who quotes Aristotle, Menander, and Anaxippus for 

 this peculiarity; Plin. xxsii. 69 Callionymi fel cicatrices 

 sanat et carnes oculorum supervacuas consumit. Nulli hoc 

 pisciura copiosius ut existimavit Menander quoque in 

 comoedis [ = Menand. ap. Ael. I.e. ridrj/j! ix^iv x^^V" <^f /caXXi- 

 wyvfjiov irXeiu}]. Idem piscis et uranoscopus vocatur ab 

 oculo quera in capite habet ; ibid. 14-6 callionymus sive 

 uranoscopus ; Athen. 356 a ovpavocKoiroi 8i Kai 6 ayvoi Ka- 

 Xovfji^vos rj Kai KaWubvvfjLos ^apeti, Cf, -2H2 d-e, A. 598 a 11 

 Trpcxryeios, which suits Uranoscopn.H as well as the Callionumus 

 of Linnaeus. For the gall-bladder of Uranoscopus cf. Cuv. 

 iii. 296 La vesicule du fiel est enorrae et a la forme d'une 

 fiole a long cou, suspendu a un canal choledoque aussi gros 

 que le duodenum. 



301 



