Marvels of the Universe 







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In certain localities 

 apparently with equal 

 thousand teet. 



fish is very common, and ha 

 e, near the surface or at a 



[yjj/ Arthur Twidle. 



3 the power of living, 

 depth of four to five 



obviously prej'ed upon by other 

 and more useful fish. 



The Stomias, of which we 

 give one illustration, Stomias boa, 

 are obviously feeble swdmmers, 

 and their illuminating powers 

 may very probably be for the 

 purpose of luring their prey within 

 reach of their relatively immense 

 jaws 



The teeth are as in Astronesthes, 

 large and curved inwards, capable 

 of being bent sufficiently to allow 

 of the ingress of prey, but rigidly 

 refusing to yield in the opposite 

 direction so as to allow of its 

 escape. These fish are black and 

 almost serpent-like in shape, and 

 have been found in the North 

 Atlantic from the shores of Greenland to the Equator at depths varying from one to ten thousand 

 feet. 



A curious form, the hook of whose lower jaw suggests a salmon gone wrong, has also been found 

 in the North Atlantic, but not at great depths — at least, not greater than two thousand five hundred 

 feet, which, for abysmal fish, is shallow. It is fairly well lighted, and, like the two last-described 

 fish, has a dependent barbel, but it is apparently a lumpy, innocent creature, with a tail so insignificant 

 that it is doomed to inactivity and probably fives upon tiny forms which immolate themselves in its 

 stomach unconsciously. To this idea the insignificance of its teeth lends the appearance of good 

 reason. 



Eustomias obscurus is the first of our subjects which 'permits'the^-jUotice of a strange sequence 

 of the luminous vesicles upon the 

 body. It will be seen from the 

 illustration that there is a certain 

 regular irregularity, if I may so 

 term it, in the disposition of these 

 tiny globes, and it has been noticed 

 that this arrangement is peculiar 

 to a species. The grouping of the 

 fights, in other words, marks the 

 family to which the fish belongs. 

 'Twere to consider too curiously 

 to suppose that the exhibition 

 of a row of fights specifically ar- 

 ranged upon the body is intended 

 for a kind of standing code of 

 signals to friends in those gloomy 

 profundities, yet if it were true 

 it would not be one whit more 

 marvellous than many other of the 

 facts we have been considering. 



[liy Arthur Tindle. 



While the smaller fish is an inoffensive sluggish creature and feeds upon 

 very lowly organisms, which it collects without effort, the one below is swift and 

 fierce and catches its victims in a distinctly opposite manner. 



