494 THE LAMPREY. 
specimens, is, during the life of the creature, almost as flexible as an elephant’s 
proboscis, and is employed as a prehensile organ, whereby its owner 
may be attached to any fixed object. The specimen represented in the 
engraving is shown in the attitude which the creatures are fond of assuming. 
The head of the Sea Horse is wonderfully like that of the quadruped from 
which it takes its name, and the resemblance is increased by two apparentears 
that project partly from the sides of 
the neck. These organs are, how- 
ever, fins, and when the fish is in an 
_ active mood, are moved with con- 
siderable rapidity. It is rather a 
remarkable fact that the Sea Horse, . 
like the chameleon, possesses the 
power of moving either eye at will, 
quite independently of the other, and 
therefore must be gifted with some 
N curious modification in ee of 
; ; scx SY which enables it to direct its 
SIA HORS UsatL Panam fe REMI) he to different objects without con- 
fusing its vision, 
The colour of this interesting little fish is ight ashen brown, relieved with 
slight dashes of blue on different parts of the body, and in certain lights 
gleaming with beautiful iridescent hues that play over its body with a change- 
ful lustre. About twenty species of Sea Horses are known, several of which 
have been exhibited alive in the aquarium atthe Crystal Palace. The Cyclo- 
stomi, or Circular-mouthed fishes, are represented by several British examples. 
THE well-known LAMPREY and its kin are remarkable for the wonderful 
resemblance which their mouths bear to that of a leech. 
They are all long-bodied snake-like fish, and possess a singular apparatus 
of adhesion, which acts on 
the same principle as the 
di:c of the sucking fish, or 
tle ventral fins of the goby, 
= though it is set on a different 
part of the body. Several 
fishes are popularly known 
by the name of Lamprey, 
but the only one to which 
the title ought properly to 
be given is that shown in 
the engraving. 
The Lamprey is a sea-go- 
ing fish, passing most of its 
time in the ocean, but ascending the rivers for the purpose of spawning. 
‘Lhe flesh of the Lamprey is peculiarly exceilent, though practically unknown 
to the great bulk of our population, and the juvenile student in history is 
always familiar with the fatal predilection of British royalty for this fish. 
‘Though it spends so much of its time in the sea, it is seldom captured except 
during its visit to the rivers, and even in that case is only in good condition 
during part of its sojourn. Practically, therefore, the Lamprey is less perse- 
cuted than most of the finny tribe who are unfortunate enough to possess well- 
flavoured flesh, and whose excellences are publicly known. 
When the Lamprey deposits its spawn, it is obliged to form a hollow in 
the bed of the river, in which it can leave the eggs intolerable safety and 
performs this operation with great speed and no small skill. The fish is not 
LAMPREY.—(Petromyson marinus.) 
