ICHTHYOLOGY FOR THE ANGLER. 



the ravenous shark, the dogfish, the sawfish, the sturgeon, 

 the sting-ray, the sea-devil or ocean-vampire, etc. 



In the last-named description of fish, and most of the ray 

 family, the fins consist of broad and thinner extensions that 

 project like wings from the body, and by which they adhere 

 to the bottom, and with which they swim with great rapidity. 

 The ventrals of some of the sucker family are also used in 

 the same manner, they being able at times to secure them- 

 selves in a position in a swift current of water, giving them 

 an opportunity to feed on the small prey that are driven by 

 the force of the tide or current. 



The three divisions are divided into subdivisions as 

 follows : 



Soft-rayed bony fishes with abdominal ventral fins, such 

 as the salmon, trout, herring, shad, etc. 



Soft-rayed bony fishes, with the ventral fins beneath the 

 pectorals as in the cod, hake, flounder, etc. ; and the 



Soft-rayed bony fishes without ventral fins, called apodals, 

 including the different species of the eel family. 



A singular fish called the Fiji eel, caught in the waters sur- 

 rounding the islands of that name in the South Pacific Ocean, 

 are said to fight their captors. They are of a brownish 

 mottled color, and will snap at the hands, feet, or legs, after 

 being taken out of the water. One of these eels of four 

 pounds' weight, after being pounded on the plank of a dock, 

 and the hook released from his mouth, sprang at the unlucky 

 angler's wrist, and made two frightful gashes* nearly severing 

 some small arteries, and just missing the main one of the 

 pulse. 



In addition to the fins, their character and position, the 

 size, form, and shape of the eyes, teeth, tongue, and gill- 

 coverings, are means that will assist the angler in his de- 



