248 THE DOLPHINS. 



these voracious creatures is attended by quite a little train of Sucking-fishes. What object is 

 fulfilled by this capability of adhesion, is a problem as yet unsolved. The Eemora is per- 

 fectly organized and capable of procuring food for itself, and, though not a swift swimmer, is 

 able to proceed through the water with tolerable rapidity. Its mouth is moderately large ; 

 and that the creature has no difficulty in seeking a subsistence is pi-oved by the fact that its 

 stomach usiially contains remnants of small Crustacea and mollusks. 



The color of this species is dusky brown, darker on the back than on the abdomen. The 

 fins are darker than the body, and are of a dense leathery consistence. The length of this 

 fish seldom exceeds eight inches. 



There are about ten species of Sucking-fishes known, of which the Shielded Sucking- 

 fish {EcJieiieis scutdta) is perhaps the most remarkable. This species may be at once recog- 

 nized by the very great size of the disc, and its length being nearly one-hali that of the body. 

 At the hinder portion of the disc the lamina3 are wanting, and its sui'face is smooth. This 

 species attains to considerable dimensions, sometimes to nearly two feet in length. 



The family of Remoras {Echeneididce) is made up of the species of two genera, found in 

 all seas, all having a long range. The Common Remoea is found attached to large sharks in 

 the warmer waters, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Another species is found north as far as 

 Massachusetts. We have seen several Remoras di"op from the Blue Shark, of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, when taken from the water. 



The well-knowii John Doky, so dear to epicures, is frequently seen in the fishmongers' 

 shops, where its peculiar shape seldom fails of attracting attention even from those who are 

 not likely to purchase it, or even to have seen it on the table. 



The name of John Dory is thought to be a corruption of the French name jaune doree, 

 a title given to the fish on account of the gilded yellow which decorates its body. It was 

 called Zeus by the ancients, because they considered it to be the king of eatable fish ; and the 

 name of Faber, or blacksmith, has probably been earned by the smoky tints which cloud its 

 back. The dark and conspicuous spots on the side are thought in many places to be imprinted 

 on the fish as a memorial of the honor conferred upon its ancestor in times past, when St. 

 Peter took the tribute-money from the mouth of the Dory, and left the print of his finger and 

 thumb as a perpetual remembrance of the event. Some persons, however, contend that the 

 marks are due, not to St. Peter, but to St. Christopher ; and the Greeks, who hold to the 

 latter tradition, call the fish Chi'istophoron. 



The Dories (family Zenidce) inhabit the warmer seas. Five genera and about ten species 

 are known. One species only is recorded as familiar to our coasts, the Z. ocellati/s, though 

 it is oceanic, approaching our shores near Cape Cod. 



We now come to a most beautiful and interesting fish, the Coryphene, so often erro- 

 neously spoken of as the dolphin. 



This splendid fish is found in many of the wanner seas, inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea, 

 and the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. The reader has, in all probability, heard the 

 old story respecting the lovely and changeful colors of the dying dolphin, and is quite aware 

 that in the shining black and gray skin of the true dolphin no such changes take place. 

 There is, however, more truth than usual in this tale ; for the dolphin in question is really the 

 Coryphene, whose colors are always most l)rilliant, and glow wdth changeful beauty duiing 

 the death struggle, A similar phenomenon occurs in several other fishes, of which the com- 

 mon red mullet is a familiar example. 



The Dolphins (family Cori/phcenidce) are embraced in one genus and six or eight species. 

 They are very large fishes, inhabiting the high seas in warm regions, Avell known through 

 their representative which is so often seen by the ship's sides in the warm waters of the 

 tropics. The term Cori/pJiO'nas would be more appropriate for these fishes instead of the 

 Dolphin. The latter was applied by the ancients to the small whale-like creature which 

 resembles our porpoise. The beautiful form so frequently used in sculpture was borrowed 

 from the cetacean, although it is true that the Coryphene also has the graceful protuberance 



