308 PISCES. 



the first of which reaches backwards nearly to the tail ; and the second dorsal and the anal have also the rays con- 

 siderably elong-ated. They have neither cul-de-sac to the stomach, cceca, nor air-bladder. 



One species, C. h/ra, the Draj^onet, is common in the British Channel, [and not rare on many parts of the 

 British coast, even as far north as the Orkneys. The prevailinfi; colour is yellow, with spots of brownish yellow, 

 whence some of the common names of the fish. It frequents the shallow waters, feeding on Crustacea, Mollusca, 

 and Worms ; and answering little purpose, save as food for more valuable fish. Its flesh is said, however, to be 

 firm and good. C. dracunailus, the Sordid Dragoiiet, is more dingy in colour, and has the rays of the first dorsal 

 much less produced. It was once supposed to be the female of the other species, but the mistake has been found 

 out and rectified. There are some subgenera nearly allied to Callionymus.] 



Tnchonotes, differs not much from the last, except in having the body very long, a single dorsal, and the anal 

 proportionally longer. The first two rays of the doi'sal are extended in long threads, representing the first dorsal 

 of the former. It is said that the gill-openings of this subgenus are tolerably wide. 



Comephorus, have the first dorsal very low ; the muzzle oblong, depressed, and broad ; the gills with seven rays, 

 and large openings ; the pectorals very long ; and (which distinguishes them from the rest of the family) they have 

 no ventrals whatever. The known species is found in the fresh-water lake of Baikal. It is a foot in length, very 

 soft and greasy in its substance, and pressed for obtaining an oil. It is not fished for in the lake, but found dead 

 on the shores after storms, which are there severe and frequent. 



Chirus, are fishes with the body rather long, small ciliated scales, a small unarmed head, a shallow mouth, with 

 small and irregular conical teeth. The spines of the dorsal are always slender, and that fin extends along the 

 whole back. Their distinguishing character is several series of pores, extending along the side, and having some 

 resemblance to additional lateral lines. All the known species inhabit the Sea of Kamtschatka. 



THE THIRTEENTH FAMILY OF THE ACANTHOPTERYGII. 

 Pectorales Pedunculati (Fisltes with Wrists to the Pectoral Fins). 



There are some spinous fishes in which the carpal bones are so elongated as to form a sort of arm or 

 wrist, to the extremity of which the pectoral fin is articulated. The family consists of two genera, 

 closely alUed to each other, though authors have sometimes placed them far apart in their arrangements; 

 and they are also related to the Gobies, [particularly to Periopthalrnus, already noticed. This is a very 

 peculiar structure of the fins ; gives these fishes a strange appearance, and enables them, in some in- 

 stances, to leap suddenly up in the water, and seize prey which they observe above them ; and in others 

 to leap over the mud, some\vhat after the manner of Frogs.] 



Lophius, Anglers. — The distinguishing character of these, besides their demi-cartilaginous skeleton, 

 and their skin without scales, consists in the pectoral being supported as by two arms, each consisting 

 of two bones, which may be compared to the radius and ulna of an arm, but which in reality belong to 

 tlie carpus, or wTist ; and in this genus they are larger than in any other. They are also characterized 

 by having the ventrals placed much in advance of tlie pectorals ; and by having the operculum and the 

 gill-rays enveloped in the skin, so that the gill-opening is merely a hole situated behind the pectoral. 

 They are voracious fishes, with a large stomach and a short intestine ; and they can live a long time 

 out of the water, in consequence of the small size of their gill-openings. They admit of division into 

 tliree subgenera. 



Lophius, head excessively large compared to the body ; very broad, depressed, and spinous in many parts ; the 

 mouth deeply cleft, and armed with pointed teeth ; and the lower jaw fringed round with many fleshy barbules. 

 They have two dorsal fins, and some rays of the first are free, and move on the bones of the head, where they rest 

 on a horizontal interspinal process. [In the Angler, or Fishing Frog of the British seas, the motions of these de- 

 tached rays are very peculiar. Two are considerably in advance of the eyes, almost close to the upper lip ; the 

 posterior of these is articulated by a stirrup upon a ridge of the base, but the anterior one is articulated by a ring 

 at its base, into a solid staple of the bone, thus admitting of free motion in every direction, without the possibility 

 of displacement, except in case of absolute fracture. The third one, which is on the top of the cranium behind 

 the eyes, is articulated much m the same manner as the posterior one of the other two ; and of course, though 

 these two have considerable motion in the mesial plane of the fish, they have very little in the cross direction. 

 The one near the lip, however, can be moved with nearly the same ease and rapidity in every direction ; and while 

 the others terminate in points, it carries a little membrane, or flag, of brilliant metallic lustre, which the fish is 

 understood to use as a means of alluring its prey ; and the position of the flag, the eyes, and the mouth, certainly 

 would answer well for such a purpose]. The gill-membrane forms a large sac, opening in the axilla of the 

 pectorals, supported by six very long rays, and with a small operculum. They have only three gills on each side. 

 It is said that these fishes lurk in the mud, where, by agitating the rays on their heads, they attract smaller 

 fishes, which mistake the appendages upon the rays for worms, and which are instantly seized, and transferred 

 to the gill-sac. Tlieir intestines have two or three short cceca near the commencement, but the fishes have no 

 air-bladders. 



ft. pi.iraturiii.t, the Fishing Frog, Sea Devil, and many other local names, attains sometimes the length of four or 



