■21-2 THE STICKLEBACKS. 



The first is the Horned Rat (Ceplialoptera Johnii), sometimes called, from its huge dimen- 

 sions, horned head, dark body, and lowering aspect, the Ska Devil. There are, however, 

 several spe< ies which arc popularly called by the latter title. 



This enormous creatine is found in the Mediterranean and the warmer seas in general, and 

 has been taken in the nets together with the tunny. The llesh is not eaten excei^t by the very 

 poor, but the supply of oil from the liver is abundant and valuable. There seem to be hardly 

 any bounds To the size which this creature will attain. M. Le Vaillant saw three of these 

 huge fish sporting round the ship in lat. 10° 15' X. long. 35 c W. and. after some persuasion, 

 induced the crew to attempt their capture. They secured the smallest of the three, and when 

 it was brought on board, it was found to measure twenty-eight feet in width, twenty feet in 

 length, to weigh a fall ton, and to have a mouth large enough to swallow a man. 



Tins gigantic Ray feeds almost wholly on fishes and mollusks. On account of their horned 

 heads, the Italian fishermen call the old ones cows and the young calves. A strong attachment 

 seems to exist between the male and female, for it has more than once happened that when 

 one fish has been harpooned or otherwise captured, its mate has hung about the boat until it 

 shared the same fate with its deceased partner ; and in one instance, where the female had been 

 caught in a tunny net, the male was seen wandering about the net for several days, and at last 

 was found dead in the same partition where his mate had been captured. So, in common 

 justice, the name of Sea Devil ought not to he applied to so loving and faithful a creature. 



The color of the Horned Hay is very dark black-blue above, and gray-white beneath. The 

 jaws and mouth are proportionately greater than is generally the case with these fishes. The 

 tail is long, thin, and smooth for the first quarter of its length, after which it is furnished with 

 tubercles. At its base there is a sharp, flattened spine, armed, like that of the preceding 

 species, with a double row of bar! is. 



There are several other Rays, among which may l>e briefly mentioned the Hong- 

 xoskh Skate {Ruin xalrdani), remarkable for the n-reat length of the snout; the Flipper 

 Skate {Rain intermedia), notable for the olive-green color of the upper surface, and the 

 numerous white spots with which it is covered ; the Bordered Ray (Ruia marginatd), which 

 may be known by the dark edge to the side tins, or wings as they are generally called, and the 

 three rows of sharp spines on the tail ; and lastly, the Homelyn Ray (Ruin miraletus), which 

 may be distinguished by the large size of the eyes and temporal orifices, and the bold dark 

 spots on the sides. 



SPINE-FINNED FISHES ; ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



We now arrive at the vast order of the Spine-finned Pishes, known scientifically as the 

 Acanthopterygii. In all these fishes, the skeleton is entirely bony, and part of the rays of 

 the dorsal, anal, and ventral tins are formed into spines, in some species very short, and in 

 others of extraordinary length. 



Without devoting more time or space to the purely scientific and anatomical character- 

 istics, which will be separately described at the end of the volume, we will proceed at once to 

 the various species of this vast and important order. I may here mention, that, whenever 

 possible, I have selected examples of the various common genera, employing only those foreign 

 species that are needful to till up the links of the chain, or that are worthy of notice from 

 some remarkable points in their Form or their habits. 



The family of Sticklebacks comprises eight genera, and about twenty species of small, 

 active, and exceedingly pugnacious fishes. They are very destructive to spawn and fry of 

 other lishes. It is scarcely to lie conceived how damaging these little creatures are, and 

 how greatly detrimental they are to the increase of all the iishes among which they live. 



