7516 Fishes. 



yellow from the action of the alcohol. — Arthur Adams ; Tcho-lien-hae, Chusan 

 Harbour, Korea. 



A Remarkable Shark.— On the 20th of November, 1869, we touch at the Oki 

 Islands iu the Sea of Japan, and I land wilh the captain at the village of Nisi-Bama. 

 The valleys between the steep wooded hills are very curiously cultivated in terraces, 

 causing tliem to resemble so many verdant amphitheatres. We pass through a wicket, 

 ascend a steep path through a grove of fine trees, and find it leads to the trunk of a 

 gigantic bastard banyan or Ficus nitida, evidently a sacred tree, for the base is covered 

 with paper effigies and other votive offerings, and a Utile gaudy joss is discovered 

 squatting in a niche. On regaining the village we find the people very civil, though 

 rather in awe of the foreigners, possibly the first of our race they had ever seen. Their 

 houses are neatly built wilh tiled roofs, and comfortable sheds for horses, cows and pigs. 

 Dried squids abound, and from the projecting rafters of some gable ends I observe 

 sundry grotesque-looking dried sharks' heads, evidently the trophies of adventurous 

 fishermen. Entering an abode so decorated I encounter an aged crone pounding the 

 daily rice, who was inclined to be in a rage, but with much art and " suaviler in modo " 

 1 effect the purchase of the architectural ornament for ihe small sum of one itzebu. 

 This squaline caput is sufficiently bizarre to merit observation. It has been inspected 

 by many a seafaring man, from an Admiral to a powder-monkey, and its physiognomy, 

 though sufficienily striking, is unknown even to a class usually well acquainted with 

 the tribe in question. The head is narrow and somewhat compressed, and covered 

 with a smooth black skin. The snout is long, triangular and pointed, not depressed, 

 and projects considerably over the mouth, which is open, with a wide gape, and the 

 gums are exposed and painted red. The eye is large and round, and unprovided with 

 a nictiiaiing membrane or eyelid. The nostrils are oblique, ear-like openings placed 

 at the lower part of the muzzle, midway between its tip and the eye. The teeth are 

 arranged in three series, the outer row erect, the middle semi-erect, and the inner 

 decumbent. They are similar in each jaw, and are long-pointed curved cusps, with 

 their lateral edges sharp and simple. — Arthur Adams. 



Snake-like Fishes. — Any particulars concerning ophioid fishes, in which, Mr. Editor, 

 " your spirit doth take delight," will I am sure be welcome to the pages of the ' Zool- 

 ogist ;' and have I not a right to speak about snake fishes? did I not capture in the 

 middle of the South Atlantic a fish, which, if it had measured fourteen feet instead of 

 fourteen inches, would have created far more astonishment ihan the Eegalecus Jonesii, 

 Newman P My fish (Nemichthys scolopacea, i?icAart/«on), taken in the towing net, 

 and even now without a place in the ichthyological system, much more resembles a 

 sea-serpent than, Mr. Editor, does yours. It is scaleless, and has sharp-pointed teeth 

 inclined backwards like those of a serpent ; the body is ophioid and spotted on the sides ; 

 the eye is large and conspicuous ; the jaws are very long ; the gape is wide, and the 

 back is furnished with a series of rays which extend crest-like from the nape to the end 

 of the tail, which has no caudal fin. You will see a figure of it from my drawing in 

 the ' Zoology of the Voyage of the Samarang.' Who shall say it is not the fry of a 

 very formidable spar-snapping sea monster ? But the object of my present communi- 

 cation is to show that Swainson is in error when he says of the ribbon fishes, " These 

 meteoric fishes appear to live in the greatest depths,'' &c. My experience to the con- 

 trary is founded on the silvery haii-lail {Trichiurus lepturus, Linn.), one of the largest 



