520 



FISHES. 



Eighteenth Division — ^Acanthopteeygii TiENiiFOEMES. 



Body riband shaped ; dorsal fin as long as the lady ; anal 

 absent ; caudal rudimentary, or not in the longitudinal axis of 

 the fish. 



The " Eibbon-fishes " are true deep-sea fishes, met with in 

 all parts of the oceans, generally found when floating dead on 

 the surface, or thrown ashore by the waves. Their body is like 

 a band, specimens of from fifteen to twenty feet long being 

 from ten to twelve inches deep, and about an inch or two 

 broad at their thickest part. The eye is large and lateral ; 

 the mouth small, armed with very feeble teeth ; the head 

 deep and short. A high dorsal fin runs along the whole 

 length of the back, and is supported by extremely numerous 



Fig. 237. — Trachypteras taenia. 



rays ; its foremost portion, on the head, is detached from the 

 rest of the fin, and composed of very elongate flexible spines. 

 The anal fin is absent. The caudal fin (if preserved, which 

 is rarely the case, iu adult specimens) has an extra-axial posi- 

 tion, being directed upwards like a fan. The ventrals are 

 thoracic, either composed of several rays or reduced to a single 



