6 



NATURAL HISTO&Y. 



Greater Sand Eel. It sometimes reaches a length of sixtean inches, but is rarely more than a foot 

 long. It is found around the coasts of Ireland, Scotland, and the English Channel, and on most 

 of the shores of the North Sea. The jaws of this species have a remarkable power of expansion, so 

 that prey can be swallowed of relatively large size. The animal swims rapidly, and is often taken in 

 the net with Sardines and Anchovies. On the north coast of Cornwall the Launce fishery lasts from 

 May to September. The fish are chiefly used as bait, but sometimes sold for the table. They are taken 

 in a net about twenty fathoms long, which in the middle has a sort of bag, called a bunt, formed 

 of fine canvas. A rope attached to one end of the net is left in charge of a man on shore. The 

 boat is then taken out so as to spread the net in a circle and enclose the fish, when the net is drawn 

 up into the boat. A good haul may amount to a couple of bushels, but sometimes three bushels may 

 be taken in a single cast of the net, and it is rare for any other species to be taken with it. 



The skin in this species is marked with one hundred and seventy distinct oblique folds, which 

 are parallel to each other, and extend downward and backward, but there are no scales. The head 

 is one-fifJi the total length. The pre-maxillary bones are not capable of being protracted. There 

 is a cartilage at the side of the lower jaw, which, according to Couch, assists the animal to pierce its 

 way into the sand. The palate is without teeth. The back is of a bluish tinge, but the under side 

 and dorsal and anal fins are silvery white. 



The Lesser Sand Eel (Ammodytes tobianus) has the pre-maxillary bones protractile, and the 

 skin of the side of the body is marked with a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty 



transverse folds. When frightened these 

 little fishes plunge into the soft sand of 

 the sea-bed, working their way by means 

 of the pointed process in which the under 

 jaw terminates. The eggs are deposited 

 in the galleries in which it moves as it 

 burrows beneath the sea. Like the 

 larger species, this is also pursued chiefly 

 for bait. It is pi-eyed upon by Mackerel. 

 The fifth group of Ophidioid fishes 

 includes two genera, neither of which 

 has ventral fins. The vent is far from 

 the head in the genus Congrogadus. The 

 LESSER SAND EEL. dorsal and anal fins are continuous. In 



the genus Haliophis the caudal fin is 

 free. The latter genus is found only in the Red Sea, and the former ranges from Singapore to 



the Australian coasts. 



FAMILY V. MACRURID^E. 



This is an important family, and includes but three genera. The body terminates in a com- 

 pressed tapering tail covered with scales, which are spiny, keeled, or striated. There is one short 

 anterior dorsal fin, and a second long one continued to the end of the tail. There are always 

 many pyloric appendages and an air-bladder. None of the species reach British seas. Macrurus 

 is chiefly characteristic of the Mediterranean, but ranges northward to Greenland, and south to 

 the Canaries, while one species is known from Japan. 



FAMILY VI. ATELEOPODID^E. 



This family is characterised by having the long, compressed, tapering tail naked. There 

 is only one short anterior dorsal fin, but the anal fin is very long and continuous with the 

 caudal. The ventral fins are reduced to filaments, which are attached to the shoulder girdle. 

 The family contains only one genus represented by a single species. Ateleopus has the maxillary 

 bones protractile in a downward direction. The ventral fin internally is formed of two rays united 

 together. The skin is naked. The species, which is marine, is known from Japan. 



The first sub-order of Anacanthini consisted, as we have seen, of the Cod-like division ; the 

 second sub-order consists of the Sole-like division, the PLEURONECTOIDEI. 



