FISHES. 



291 



called Trichodiodon, remarkable for the very slender flexible spmes resembling stiff 

 hairs, and which has accordingly been named the hairy box-fish. 



A typical and well-tnown species of the family is the Diodon maculatus, a Tro- 

 picopolitan fish, being found in the tropical American, and East Indian seas, as well 



as in the Pacific Ocean. . * t+ 



The last of the order is that which also is the most eccentric and aberrant. Its 

 species seem to be only parts of fishes, the posterior end abruptly terminating and 

 appearing as if it had been cut off and the skin grown over agam ; the head is mostly 

 rounded in front, and the jaws and armature are single and without any suture above 

 or below, thus resembling the Diodontidse. The dorsal and anal fins are near the 

 truncate posterior extremity, and are connected together by a posterior border or fin. 



Fig. 163. — Tetrodon fahaka, swell-flsh. 



It is to this family (Molid^ or OBTHAGOEiscroiE) that the giants of the order belong, 

 — one, the common sun-fish, sometimes weighing eight hundred pounds. 



The type of the family is also the most common. Scientifically it is known as 

 Mola mola, and its most common popular name, in England and America, is sun-fish. 

 It is recognizable by its very short body, smooth skin, and erect dorsal and anal fins 

 invested in skin, and connected by a thick skinny border around the hinder part of the 

 body. It is a giant among fishes, and is perhaps the highest of any. Occasionally it 

 reaches a weight of seven or eight hundred pounds, and this weight is said to^ be 

 the co-ordinate of a length of seven or eight feet. Its distribution is quite extensive, 

 for it has been found in all the temperate seas of both the northern and southern 

 hemispheres, ranging further south in the winter. Two individuals were taken as 

 far south even as the mouth of the St. John's River, in Florida, in the winter of 

 1874-75. It is a fish. prone to come to the surface on sunny days, and, throwing 

 itself on its sides, to bask in the sun. Thus floating along with one of the bright 

 sides just on the surface, individuals maybe frequently seen by the traveler along the 

 coast. "As they float, the waves ripple and break over them, and the heavy pectoral 

 fins move slowly to and fro through the air. Thus lying, they are very conspicuous 



