Giant Fish of Florida 
Under the two bony fish in the photograph will be seen, on 
a Shell, one of the remarkable toad fish clinging to its support 
and lying in ambush for unwary small fry. This particular 
specimen, of which I give an enlarged presentment, seems 
a very primitive creature, with its handlike fins and tiny eyes 
and general absence of vitality, yet it is admirably equipped 
for satisfying its own greed and escaping that of its enemies. 
It is all but invisible clinging to the shell against a deceptive 
background of weeds, and its gaping mouth is striped black and 
white inside in an attractive manner that proves the doom of 
many fish endowed with a fatal curiosity. This particular 
individual, indeed, had actually swallowed a young snapper of 
exactly its own weight and half an inch longer than itself! I 
relate this merely as it came under my own notice, for I took 
the one from the other, but I hardly expect to be believed. 
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