438 



THE LAMPREYS AND LANGELETS 



fresh-water species are much smaller. Fortu- 

 nately, none of the fresh-water species are so in- 

 jurious to fishes as the Sea Lamprey. 



According to Jordan and Evermann's "Fishes 

 of North and Middle America," there are in Ameri- 

 can waters ten species of lampreys, and two of 

 their very near, but still lower, relatives, the Hag- 

 Fishes. They are scattered at intervals from 

 Alaska to New England, in brooks, rivers, lakes, 

 estuaries and various other bodies of shallow 

 water. They are most accessible in fresh water, 

 on a stony or gravelly bottom; and whenever in 

 such a situation you find an eel-like creature 

 holding fast to a stone by the suction of a big flat 

 mouth on the end of its head, know of a surety 

 that it is a Lamprey. 



THE LANCELETS. 



Class Leptocardii. 



The 'long and interesting chain of Vertebrates 

 ends in a very weak and insignificant link. The 

 great work entitled "Fishery Industries of the 

 United States" dismisses this creature with only 



two and a half lines, and leaves three-fourths of 

 the page blank. 



And truly, the Lancelet, or Amphioxus,' is 



not a creature calculated to arouse enthusiasm. 

 Its skeleton is composed of membranes and carti- 

 lages. It has no brain, nor even a skull in which 

 to develop one. It is neither eel-like nor worm- 

 like, but as its name implies, it is shaped like the 

 head of a lance. The middle line of the body is 

 provided with weak and indifferent fins. There 

 is no proboscis, and the mouth is slit-like, and 

 fringed with hair-like filaments. All the above 

 characters, and many others of a purely technical 

 nature, are set forth in "The Fishes of North and 

 Middle America," where eight species are recog- 

 nized. 



These small, naked, colorless and translucent 

 creatures are found "embedded in the sand in the 

 shallow waters of warm coasts throughout the 

 world." They are of special interest only because 

 they are the lowest of the Vertebrates, and on the 

 whole they constitute a very ignominious ending 

 for the highest grand division of Nature. 



1 The West Indian Lancelet (Brach-i-os'to-ma 

 ear-i-bae'um), is found from Beaufort, N. C, to the 

 mouth of the La Plata. 



And thus ends our bird's-eye view of the Vertebrates, setting forth the prominent types and 

 examples which every intelligent American should know. It is here, and here only, that " speciali- 

 zation" may properly begin! Behind lie the Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Fishes; beyond lie the 

 mighty hosts of the Invertebrates, — Crustaceans, Insects, Mollusks and others. In any one of these 

 grand divisions of life, the special student may wander for a lifetime in a wonderland of his own, and 

 to the last find each day filled with new light and new joys in the unending revelations of Nature. 



THE END. 



