134 FISH GALLERY. 



themselves with great, rapidity in the sand, darting in and out 

 like arrows. Sometimes the falling tide leaves a sandy stretch of 

 beach looking like a moving foam of silver through the Launces 

 dodging and wriggling in and out of the wet sand. Both dorsal 

 and anal fins are extended (fig. 63) and without spines. There are 

 no pelvic fins. Two species occur on the British coast, the Greater 

 Launce or Greater Sand-eel, Ammodytes lanceolatus, 455, and 

 fig. 63, growing to seventeen inches, and the Lesser Launce or Lesser 



Fig. 63. — Sand-eel 7 Ammodytes lanceolatus. 



Sand-eel, Ammodytes tobianus, 454; which grows to seven inches, 

 has flatter sides than the Greater Launce, and lives higher up the 

 sandy shoal. They are not much eaten but make excellent bait. 

 Sand- The Atherines or Sand-smelts are small fishes rarely exceeding 



smelt. nme mcnes m length, of a translucent pale green colour, and with 

 a silvery band along the side. They are littoral fishes, living in 

 shoals in the seas of the temperate and tropical regions of the 

 globe, but some species enter or live entirely in fresh water. 

 Atherina presbyter, the Common Sand-smelt, 456, is not 

 uncommon on the British coasts. It is sometimes mistaken for 

 the Smelt, which is a Salmonoid fish (294, Wall-case 7), but the 

 uninitiated can at once tell the Atherine from the true Smelt by 

 the presence of spines in the front dorsal fin. The Sand-smelts 

 are highly esteemed as food; the celebrated l Pesce Rey' of Chili 

 is a species of Atherina. 

 Grey The Grey Mullets (family Mugilidse) are robust-looking fishes 



with broad, blunt head and small, nearly toothless mouth. The 

 scales are cycloid, of moderate size and arranged in regular rows ; 

 the first dorsal fin is small and has few spines (usually four) and 

 the pectoral fins are inserted high up. The second portion of the 

 stomach is thick and muscular like the gizzard of a bird, and the 



