THE HORNED TRUNK-FISH. 



335 



As may be seen by the engraving, it is a curious-looking fish, and easily recognizable 

 by the six tentacular appendages of its mouth, the two that are situated on the upper 

 lip being of very great length. The precise object of these tentacles is not quite clear, 

 though some persons believe them to be used as decoys, like the fin rays of the fishing 

 frog, and to be employed in enticing unwary fish within reach of the mouth. Dr. 

 Giinther has kindly informed me, that he has often seen these fishes at liberty in their 

 native streams, and that they are capable of directing the points of the tentacles to- 

 wards any object that they seem anxious to examine. It is, therefore, probable, that 

 these curious appendages are employed as organs of touch. It is one of the mud- 

 loving fishes, and has a custom of hiding itself in holes, or nearly burying itself in the 

 soft alluvium of the river's bed. 



The flesh of the Silurus is not held in very high estimation, although its flavor is 

 good, for it is so fat and gelatinous that it is difficult of digestion, and not to be eaten 

 by persons of small assimilative powers. A kind of coarse isinglass, or very fine 

 glue, is made from the swimming-bladder of this fish. The eggs of the Silurus are not 

 very numerous in proportion to the size of the adult fish, and are of a greenish color. 

 They are much eaten by various fish. 



The rather peculiar shape can be seen by the illustration, so that no verbal descrip- 

 tion is necessary. The color is dark green above the lateral line, and of a paler tint 

 below it, and a number of spots are scattered over the body without any apparent 

 arrangement. The abdomen is of a yellowish color, and the fins are tinted with blue and 

 yellow. The Silurus sometimes reaches a considerable size, specimens of seven feet 

 in length and weighing from seventy to eighty pounds having been captured. 



HORNED TRUaC-FUM. OtftoKfU corautus. 



A VERY curious order of fishes now comes before our notice. These creatures are 

 called Pectognathi, because their jaws are coalescent. 



THE remarkable family of the Trunk-fishes, or Sclerodermi, are known by the curious 

 structure of the external surface, which is composed of a series of hard scales forming 

 a continuous bony armor. 



In the genus Ostracion, of which the HORNED TRUNK-FISH, or COFFER-FISH, is a 

 good example, the body is either three or four-sided, and covered with a solid coat of 

 mail formed of six-sided plates of scales, and pierced with holes, through which pro- 

 trude the mouth, the tail, and the fins. The whole of the interior structure is modified 

 in accordance with this external and inflexible cuirass ; and on comparing the general 



