ANGLER. 
143 
division of the tins as the anal. In the osseous fishes, in 
most cases at least, only the upper supporting rays of the 
caudal tin are developed above the notochord (dorsally). 
The last stages of development in this species which 
Agassiz has figured, are active young specimens which 
rove at the surface of the sea which was their cradle. 
The step from their form to the stage figured by Rur- 
pell from a Mediterranean specimen and described by 
Gunther" (fig. 39), is no very great one. At this 
stage the Angler with its fringes, if we compress its 
head laterally, as is shown in the figure, is not unlike 
a Coitus or a Scorpcena. The rays of the pectoral fin, 
like those of the ventral, are prolonged in a filiform 
shape beyond the margin of the fin; and the base of 
the latter fin is still more distinctly advanced, in front 
of the insertion of the pectoral fins. The first five 
rays of the dorsal fin have received their typical co- 
vering of filaments, and the whole of the anterior part 
of the dorsal fin is in its typical position; but the first 
rays, especially the first of all, are still comparatively 
short, and, most important of all, the head is consid- 
erably shorter in proportion to the length of the body 
at this stage than it becomes afterwards. The fin- 
form ula now is: D. 1 + 1 + 1 + 3/12; A. 10; P. 23; 
V. V 5 ; C. 8. Starting from this form Gunther had 
no difficulty in showing that Lophius eurypterus of v. 
Duben and Koren (1. c.) was a young specimen of the 
common Angler. The latter authors obtained their 
specimens from the Norwegian coast, off Stavanger and 
Bergen and from the harbour of Christianssund, where 
one specimen (fig. 40) was found actively swimming 
at the surface, and was kept alive in a vessel for some 
days after it was caught — “it liked to stand upside 
down in the vessel, and often, too, swam on its back, 
rooting with its snout in the bottom”. At this stage 
the pectoral fins have their full number of rays, which, 
like those of the ventral fins, have lost their long, 
filiform tips; but both the pectoral and the ventral fins 
are still so large that this larval stage may in this 
respect be set side by side with the largest-finned 
Cottidce. On account of their large size the pectoral 
fins are folded internally (posteriorly) at right angles 
to the rest of the fin. The fin-formula lor this stage is 
I). 1 + 1 + 1 + 3/12; A. 11; P. 27; V. V 5 ; C. 1 + 6 + 1. 
The length of the Angler rises in ordinary cases 
as high as 3 or 4 feet; but it is also stated to have 
attained a length of even 6 feet. Its life is that of a 
treacherous bandit. It lies idly, but in a carefully 
chosen place, at the bottom of the sea, hidden among 
seaweeds or stones. It can probably change its colo- 
ration, which is by no means disagreeable, to suit the 
surroundings. Sometimes, too, it buries itself in the 
mud, with only the mouth and the gill-openings free. 
In this position it lies in ambush for its prey. Per- 
haps it also allures its prey by means of the mobile, 
anterior rays of the dorsal fin. In this case it must 
do so chiefly by means of the first, the double fringe 
of which may well be capable of imitating in its 
movements some small, swimming mollusk, a small fish, 
a worm or some other marine creature, if all the tales 
of the Ano-ler’s cunning; mode of fishing- which the 
ancient writers, from Aristotle onwards, have handed 
down to us, be founded on actual observations. In any 
case, it is true enough that its mouth is a. sure grave 
for any creature which allows itself to be enticed too 
near the Angler, even if the victim be equal in size 
to its devourer. The form of its bodjq too, is clearly 
a point in favour of this assumption as to its way of 
life, a life requiring no special powers of swimming, 
which the Angler does not seem to possess. Ob- 
servations have been made, however, which point to a 
different conclusion. Couch relates that a fisherman 
had hooked a Codfish and was drawing up his line, 
when he suddenly felt a new bite and a heavier weight 
on the line: this proved to be an Angler which had 
swallowed the Cod and was drawn up together with 
it into the boat, where it was only after a heavy 
blow on the head that it loosed its hold. A still 
clearer proof of its activity in pursuit of its prey is 
the fact that it has been seen seizing and devouring 
swimming-birds * 6 at the surface of the water, while in 
its stomach have been found diving-birds 0 which had 
perhaps fallen victims to its voracity at the bottom of 
the sea. Among the tales of its attacking fishes already 
hooked, Couch relates that a Conger which had taken 
the hook on a long-line, was swallowed by an Angler, 
but struggled through its gill-apertures and in that 
situation was drawn up together with it. The Angler, 
a Ann. Mag. .Nat. Hist., 1. c., Introd. Stud. Fish., p. 471 and Handb. Ichth., p. 
6 Phalacrocorax carbo, Larus argentatus , Colymbus glacialis, Anas 'pcneloye. 
c Uria troile and Alca tor da. 
334. 
