SOME COASTWISE FISHES. 123 



representing a family very distinct from that of 

 the toad-fish, is certainly one of the most interest- 

 ing of the coast-fishes. Its greatly expanded body 

 and head, with broad transverse mouth — whence 

 the names ' kettle-maw,' ' wide-gut,' ' all-mouth,' 

 etc. — and the peculiar ' angling' appendages rising 

 from the back, impart to the animal an individ- 

 uality which is, to say the least, striking. It was 

 the supposition of the earlier naturalists — a suppo- 

 sition, doubtless, resting chiefly upon a fable that 



FlSHING-FEOG (ANGLEB'. 



had been handed down from antiquity — that the 

 purpose of the foremost of the filiform append- 

 ages on the back was the securing of food, the fish 

 being actually credited with a knowledge of the 

 art of angling. Hence to this day it is still com- 

 monly known as the ' angler.' But there can be 

 little doubt that these peculiar whips, as well as the 

 various other membranous appendages that belong 

 to the body, and the coloring of the surface, are 



