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natural place in the muddy shallows of the sea. It is very 

 frequent in the Gulf of Naples and is found in the market, 

 though very little prized. 



A similar picture is afforded to the visitor by the iceevers, Tra- 

 chinus, of which many species, the T. draco, the T. vipe- 

 ra, and others, are to be found in the Gulf. These are slender 

 fish, pressed sideways, with metallic-blue, lively eyes, and spiny 

 dorsal fins and gill-covers. "When brought into the Aquarium 

 they fall to the ground as soon as the first excitement is over, 

 and in a few seconds are buried in the sand, nothing remaining 

 visible but their eyes and mouth. When fed, they dart with 

 equal rapidity from their concealment and snap up their food 

 (little dead fishes) before it falls to the ground. At the same 

 time, and also when excited, they erect their fins, the spines 

 of which are rightly feared, for a \vound caused by them often 

 results in violent inflammation, and for this reason the fishermen 

 handle these fish with caution, and break off the spines before 

 carrying them to market. Perhaps the brilliant eyes of these 

 fish, which, like those of the chamelion, can move in different 

 directions independent of each other , serve as a decoy in a 

 similar manner to the tongue of the Stargazer. 



This principle of a decoy-apparatus is interestingly carried 

 out in the Devil-fish or Angler (Lophius), probably the ugliest 

 monster of a fish to be found in the Mediterranean. Almost 

 three fourths of its body seem to be absorbed by its flat mon- 

 strous head and enormous mouth, the grinning jaws of which 

 show a row of hooked teeth. Clothed in a dirty-brown skin, 

 this beast lies half-buried in the sand, and stares upward 

 with its dull and glassy eyes, the fringe of barbels on its chin 

 flapping at every breath it draws. Sometimes it elevates its 

 foremost reversed, flexible dorsal fins and lets the fringes at their 

 edges play in the water as bait. Thus the Devil-fish is a living 

 angle, its little barbels and fringes being so many decoy- 

 baits for curious fish , and its gigantic mouth, always ready 

 to close with a snap, a trap from which there is no escape. 



This creature lives in the mud in the middle deeps of the 

 gulf, and often reaches an immense size. Unfortunately it can- 

 not endure confinement, for it refuses all food, and seems to 

 be unable to exist out of the gloomy retreats of its natural 

 habitat. The visitor therefore will not always find a specimen 

 of this fish in the Aquarium, particularly as the larger examples 

 seldom reach the Station alive. 



In the same tank with the Star-gazers and "Weevers, will 



