82 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



the Dealfish, are excessively thin. The mouth may 

 be enormous as in the Fishing-Frog, or small, as in 

 the File-Fishes ; it may be situated beneath as in 

 the Rays, or at the end of a long tube as in the 

 Trumpet-Fish. Their teeth may be large, sharp, and 

 numerous, as in the hungry Sharks ; or they maybe 

 perfectly toothless. They may carry about with 

 them long, gracefully waving rays, as the Geinmeous- 

 Dragonet ; be variously ornamented with leaf-like 

 growths like the Phyllopteryx ; or be armed at all 

 points with sharp spines as the Diodons. Their 

 exteriors may be hard and resisting, as those of 

 the well-named Trunk-fishes ; or soft and gelatinous, 

 like the Lancelet or Myxine. Their nose may, as in 

 some Breams, be snub, and not even so long as their 

 chin ; it may confer an air of impudence as in the 

 Lesser- Weever ; be a regular beak as in the Sea- 

 Snipe ; or be so prolonged like that of the Sword- 

 Fish, as to make its possessor formidable even to the 

 mighty Leviathan of the deep. 



The eyes of fishes have been formed more to allow 

 of ample power within a limited distance, than for 

 extensive range of vision. In structure they vary 

 from the simple eye-speck of the Amblyopsis to the 

 singularly framed organ of the Anableps. They are 

 most commonly situated one on either side of the 

 head, but are sometimes brought more forwards. 

 They may be far apart, as in the Hammer-headed 

 Shark; be situated superiorly as in the star-gazing 

 Uranoscopus; or, as in the Flounders and Skates, 

 be placed both on one side of the head. 



