634 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
R. hr. 6; D. 3|24— 26: A. 21-24; P. 15; ( V.) 1; 0. 1 + 
10 + 1 ; L. I at. 46 — 56. 
Syn. Guaperua longa , Lister in App. ad Willughb., Hist. Pise., 
p. 21, tab. I, 20. 
Balistes maculatus, Bl., Naturg. Ausl. Fiseli., pt. II, p. 25, 
tab. CLI; Blkr, Atl. Iclith. Ind. Or. Ne'erl., tom. V, p. 122, 
tab. CCXVIII, fig. 4; Gthr, Cat. Brit. Mus., Fish., vol. VIII, 
p. 213; Malm, Ofvers. Vet. Akad. Forh. 1875, No. 7, p. 8; 
Gbgs., Boh. Fn ., p. 599; Day, Fish. Ind., p. 687, tab. 
CLXXV, fig. 3; Fish. Gt. Brit., Irel., vol. II, p. 267, tab. 
CXLV ; Lillj., Sv., Norg. Fish., vol. Ill, p. 420. 
Balistes hrevissimus + Bal. angulosns (?) + Bal. maculatus + 
Bal. longissimus, Hollard, Ann. Sc. Nat., 4 ser., Zool., 
tom. I, pp. 56 — 62, tab. 3, figg. 1 — 4. 
The Spotted File-fish attains a length of at least 4 
dm., and is distinguished, when adult, among its con- 
as a rarity, having wandered to our waters probably 
in the same manner as Antennarius histrio , merely a 
casual visitor to Scandinavian regions. 
In Scandinavia the File-fish, of course, possesses no 
economical importance; and it is not used in any manner, to 
the best of our knowledge, in its true habitat. The other 
European species of the genus, Balistes capriscits, a form 
belonging to the warmer regions of the Atlantic and the 
Pacific, not very rare in the Mediterranean, and once 
or twice met with on the coasts of Great Britain and 
Ireland, is also one of the least useful fishes. According 
to CanestrinC it is not eaten in Italy. The flesh of the 
whole genus, as we have mentioned above, is also sus- 
Fig. 155. Balistes maculatus, 1 2 the natural size. Valparaiso; the F.ugenie Expedition. 
geners by its elongated form and by the comparatively 
great height and almost falciform shape of the second 
dorsal and the anal fins. It is one of the first- 
discovered species of the genus, and its range ex- 
tends over the tropical and subtropical seas of both 
hemispheres. In the West Indies it has long been known, 
together with another species, under the name of Sa- 
lt itco; and from these regions it sometimes strays to 
the coasts of North-western Europe. It has once been 
found, according to Gunther, off Polperro in Coni wall; 
and in Uddevalla Museum is preserved a stuffed speci- 
men, 272 mm. long, which is said to have been taken 
during the autumn of 1857 off “Saltk&llan, at the head 
of Gullmar Fjord, whence it was forwarded fresh to the 
said museum”. Of its habits we have no special infor- 
mation. In the Scandinavian fauna it is interesting only 
pected of possessing poisonous properties. In those 
tropical regions where the species are most plentiful, 
the natives suppose that these poisonous properties are 
due to the food of the fishes and are especially dangerous 
when the fishes live on coralline animals. Day describes * 6 , 
according to Meunier’s observations at Mauritius, the 
symptoms caused by the eating of File-fishes. The 
poison operates immediately upon the nerves of the 
stomach and causes violent spasmodic convulsions in its 
walls. Soon afterwards, these convulsions spread to the 
muscles of the whole body. The tongue swells, the 
eyes stare, the breath grows difficult, and the patient 
dies in the most acute agony. Powerful emetics, fol- 
lowed by oleaginous substances and emulsions, are the 
best antidotes. Other species of the genus, however, 
enjoy a good reputation. 
a Fauna Italica, pt. Ill, Pesci, p. 147. 
6 Fishes of India, p. 686. 
