348 



LEPTOCEPHALUS. 



The head small, without barbs at the jaws; body lengthened, very 

 thin, and so transparent that the inward parts may be easily distinguished. 

 Gill openings a little cleft, not a mere aperture. Vent not before 

 the middle of the body; dorsal and anal fins joined to the tail, so 

 as to form one fin. 



MORRIS. 



Leptocephalus Mornsii, Jenyns; Manual, p. 840. 



" " Yahkell; Br. Fishes, vol. ii, p. 409. 



This fish has obtained its name from the gentleman who 

 was the first to make it known, and in part also as the 

 Anglesea Morris, from the neighbourhood where the example 

 was taken; but the earliest description and figures were so 

 imperfect that they cannot be referred to as authority. Since, 

 however, that special notice has been directed towards it by 

 the repeated instances of its having been met with, it has 

 been found to be scarcely rare round the whole extent of the 

 British coasts, even to Caithness, where an example was 

 obtained by Mr. Peach. Many have been found in Ireland 

 and the south coast of England; and it is mentioned among 

 the fish of the Cape of Good Hope by Dr. Paape; if indeed 

 the species be the same; for Cuvier remarks that there are other 

 species of this genus in more southern climates. On the coasts 

 of France and the Mediterranean it is not uncommon; and 

 with us is sometimes left by the tide in a pool on the shore. 

 There is no doubt that its usual residence is in shallow water 

 • and rocky ground, but it also inhabits the deeper water, up 

 through which it mounts, with no little danger to itself from 

 the prowling wanderers of the ocean, to which it seems a 

 tempting morsel, and often falls a prey. An instance has been 

 known where the fish had already seized the hook, and when 

 drawn on board, a Morris was found, loose and alive, in the 



