THE TRUE FISHES, 



183 



not breed on the North American shores, and a young 

 one has never been seen here. The latter are often very 

 unlike the adults. The young Histiophorus (Fig. 225) has 

 jaws almost equal, armed with teeth, and a long, tall dor- 

 sal fin. They are all valued as food-fishes. 



FIG. 225. Young sword-fish (Histiophoru<>}, nine millimetres long. 



NOTE. The pugnacity of the sword-fish and its wonderful strength 

 have been shown on many occasions. The yacht Red-Hot, of New Bed- 

 ford, used by the United States Fish Commission, was sunk by a sword- 

 fish in 1871. A sword-fish also penetrated the ship Queensbury in the 

 same year, and the cargo had to be discharged in consequence. The 

 ship Fortune was pierced in 1827, the sword penetrating copper, an 

 inch board under-sheathing, a three-inch plank of hard wood, twelve 

 inches of solid white-oak timber, and, lastly, the head of an oil-cask. 



FIG. 226. Chcetodon rostratus, shooting a drop of water at an insect* 



