TARPON AND LADY-FISH. 85 



produced into a long rilament. The Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus, Tarpon. 



1110, Floor-case 27, also fig. 47) is a littoral fish of warm 



American seas, and often enters rivers and even inland lakes. It 



is carnivorous, feeding- on Mullets and similar fishes, and grows 



to a length of seven feet or more and a weight of over 100 lbs. 



It disports itself noisily in the water, frequently leaping seven or 



eight feet out of the water and returning head first, with the body 



bent in the form of an arch, and with the gill-covers widely open 



displaying the red gills. The Tarpon ranks as the greatest of 



the game fishes and when hooked affords good sport ; it is 



caught by rod and line from rowing boats. 



The Ox-eye, Megalops cyprinoides, 234, differs from the Tarpon Ox-eye. 

 in being a less slender fish ; the dorsal fin is not so far back and 

 has more fin-rays (about 20), as also has the anal fin (about 25). 

 Like the Tarpon it readily accommodates itself to fresh water. 

 When the fishes are small, of about the size of Mackerel, they 

 swim about in shoals, but when larger they are solitary. The 

 Ox-eye rarely attains a length of five feet. It affords most 

 excellent eating, in marked contrast with the Tarpon, and in 

 some parts of India it is preserved in tanks or ponds for table 

 use. 



The Albulidse (e. g. the Lady-fish, 236) have a small mouth, 

 with thick lips, and overhung by the bluntly-pointed snout. 

 There are large crushing teeth in the inner parts of the mouth, 

 and minute, pointed teeth on the bones of the jaws. As in the 

 Elopidee the pectoral fins are set low down, the pelvic fins have 

 10-16 fin-rays; the tail fin is well-developed and forked, but 

 the haemal arches are more or less fused at the base of the tail, 

 whereas in the Elopidse they remain separate. There are only 

 two living genera, Albula, the Lady-fish, and Bathythrissa, a 

 deep-sea fish of Japan; remains of Albula (Pisodus oweni) occur 

 in the London Clay of Sheppey. 



The Lady-fish, Albula conorhynchus, 236, is a shore fish and Lady-fisb, 

 subsists mainly upon bivalve molluscs, for the crushing of which 

 its central dentition is well adapted. Full-grown specimens of 

 the Lady-fish range from 20 to 30 inches in length, and from 

 3 to 10 lbs. in weight. Opinions differ as to the value of its 

 flesh as food. The fish gives good sport to the angler when 



