254 



FISHES. 



becomes the object of an important fishery: to catch it the fishermen provide them- 

 selves with nets, about two hundred feet in length, and twenty-five or thirty in breadth, 

 and assemble four boats, one of which carries the net, and the others furnaces in which 

 they make a bright fire. This fishery is carried on in the dark nights from April to July. 

 The boats are stationed about five miles from the coast, and when the anchovies, attracted 

 by the light, are assembled in large numbers around a boat thus illuminated, the net is 

 cast into the water, and laid out so as to surround the assembled fishes. This done, the 

 fire is suddenly extinguished, and the anchovies, alarmed, in seeking to escape are taken 

 in the net. They are preserved with salt after removing the head and the intestines. 



FIG. 268.- ANCHOVY. 



A very curious family, named 



The Anglers (Lop1iius\ is represented in our seas by a large 

 and voracious species, bearing several homely appellations, such 

 as the Wide-gab, Sea-Devil, and more commonly the Frog-Fish 

 or Fishing Frog. In these fishes, the pectoral and ventral fins 

 are shaped like hands, and project so far from the surface of the 

 body as to be capable of being bent forward and used as feet, 

 as represented in the accompanying figure (Fig. 269). 



FIG. 969. MARBLED ANGLER. 



The Common Angler (Lophius piscatorius] (Fig. 270) is a large fish, sometimes 

 attaining five feet in length. The head, as will be observed, is furnished with slender 

 rods, furnished at the tip with long waving tassels, resembling worms. The use of 



