OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 77 



{A. cicirelhis), No. 122. The last-named species is a 

 Mediterranean form, somewhat doubtfully recorded from 

 Biitish waters. The two former fish are very plentiful, 

 gregarious in habits, and, when freshly caught, highly 

 esteemed for the table on the South coast and in the 

 Channel Islands. The Sand-Eels take their names from 

 their habit of burrowing in the sand, out of which they are 

 dislodged in vast numbers at ebb-tide with forks, rakes, 

 spades, and every implement available for the purpose. 

 Sand-eeling excursions by moonlight at the low spring 

 tides, in the sandy bays of the islands of Jersey and 

 Guernsey, constitute a favourite and highly exciting pas- 

 time, indulged in indiscriminately by the members of both 

 sexes and all ranks. While the common form or Lesser 

 Sand-Eel rarely measures six inches in length, the larger one 

 may sometimes exceed twice these dimensions. 



FAMILY III.— LONGTAILS (Macruridce). 



Body terminating in a long, compressed, tapering tail, 

 clothed with spiny, keeled, or striated scales ; dorsal fins two 

 in number, the anterior one very short, the second very 

 long, continued to the end of the tail ; the anal fin very 

 long, corresponding in its development with the second 

 dorsal ; no distinct caudal fin. 



This family is restricted to a few deep sea or abyssal 

 forms, which are likened by Dr. Gunther to "Deep sea 

 Gadidae." Of the forty known species, a single type, the 

 Norwegian Coryphcenoid (Coryphcenoides ritpestris), No. 

 123, that attains to a length of eight or ten inches, has 

 been rarely taken in deep water off the Faroe and 

 Shetland Islands. 



