FISHES. 521 



Burrouiided by twelve brown spots, placed ia a circle. It is 

 taken in England at the mouth of rivers, four or five miles dis- 

 tant from the sea. 



The body of the Pipe Fish, in the thickest part, is not thicker 

 than a swan-quill, while it is above sixteen inches long. This 

 IS angular, but the angles being not very sharp, they are not dis- 

 cernible until the fish is dried. Its general colour is an olive- 

 brown, marked with numbers of bluish lines, pointing from the 

 back to the belly. It is viviparous ; for on crushing one that 

 was just taken, hundreds of very minute young ones were ob- 

 served to crawl about.* 



» Tlie following is a description of a tobacco pipe fish taken at Salcomb in 

 1807.— Length twenty inches and a half, viz. ten to the vent, and ten and a. 

 half to the end of the tail : the snout similar to that of acics ; its length to 

 the eye three quarters of an inch ; from thence to the end of the gill, in- 

 cluding the eye, one inch : the form of the body rather compressed, and 

 angular, with an acute dorsal and abdominal ridge, which, together with 

 three slight angles on each side, gave it an octangular appearance ; it was 

 of equal size from the gills to the vent, which part contains about thirty 

 plates ; from the vent to the extremity of the tail it was almost round, and 

 extremely taper, containing about sixty-six plates j immediately behind^the 

 vent, the body suddenly decreased to one-third less in diameter ; but this 

 may have been a sexual distinction. 



Tlie Gar Fith.— The Gar Fish belongs to the class of needle fish, which 

 denomination they have received from the extreme length of their bodies in 

 proportion to their thickness. They have no scales, but scuta or bucklers, 

 with several angles. The hexagonal form of the body and the anal fin, are 

 the distinguishing characters of the gar fish. Hie body is composed of 

 eighteen scuta, and the tail of thirty-six, which form as many joints; the 

 tail is square. It is found in the North and Baltic seas ; it scarcely exceeds 

 the length of a foot, and the thickness of a finger. Besides the appellation 

 of needle tish and gar fish, it is sometimes called by that of a shorter pipe 

 and horn fish. 



The Needle Fish are natives of the ocean, and the North and Baltic seas. 

 They are usually found in deep places near the coasts, where they are 

 caught with other fish. Thoy produce their joung in a perfect state, one 

 after the other, from eggs hatched in their bodies, like the sharks and rays. 

 Having but little flesh they are fit only for baiting lines ; and they are the 

 more proper for this purpose as they are tenacious of life ; and it is well 

 known that fish bite more eagerly at a living bait than a dead one. 



The Sea Adder, or little pipe, is noiu-ly,rouud, having only some very small 

 and scarcely perceptible aiiguUu- projections on the sides. It has but one fin ; 

 and the body is divided into joints, like that of the common worm. It grows 

 to the length of two feet, and is not thicker than a swan's quill. It in- 

 habits the North and Baltic seas, and it of the same nature aa the two for. 

 mer fish. 



The Long File Fisfi.—7he body of the long flle fish is not very deep ; th» 



2x3 



