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SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
like other fishes of great voracity, also swallows what- 
ever comes in its way, however hard of digestion it 
may be; but its food seems really to consist of Rays, 
Gurnards and other bottom-fishes. In some places it 
is believed to have a great liking for the flesh of the 
Shark, and the fishermen therefore consider that it does 
good, and set it again at liberty, if they catch it. 
That it is not deserving of this reputation is, however, 
shown by the fact that among the fishes found in its 
stomach have been Herrings and Mackerel in scores. 
Its way of life being of this nature the Angler is 
probably of solitary habits: as far as we know, at least, 
it has not been met with in any large number at one 
spot. The smaller specimens, from 2 to 3 feet in length, 
are found in water not more than from 1 5 to 1 8 fa- 
thoms deep, and sometimes so near shore that they 
are left dry at ebb tide; the larger specimens are occa- 
sionally taken at a considerable depth, from 100 to 
300 fathoms, but according to Agassiz they also move 
into the higher regions of the ocean in summer during 
the spawning-season. The Angler has a geographical 
range which includes the Mediterranean and the Black 
Sea (Nordmann), and extends throughout the basin of 
the Atlantic from the Cape of Good Hope (Lophius 
vomerinus, Valenciennes, 1. c.) to Va ranger Fjord 
(Collett) and Iceland (Faber), as well as along the 
American coast, north of North Carolina at least (Jordan 
and Gilbert); but in Greenland it has never been 
found. It does not penetrate far into the Baltic, in the 
Sound scarcely farther north than Hven (Nilsson and 
Lilljeborg), but off the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein 
it has been caught fairly often (Mobius and Heincke). 
In Bohuslan the Angler, says Malm, “is not so rare as 
would generally seem to be the case, partly because 
the fisherman regards it with hatred when it is acci- 
dentally taken in the net set for other fishes, and partly 
because it is so feared by many that the tackle is cut 
as soon as the “monster” reaches the surface; and its 
captor hurries home in order to get there, if possible, 
before the misfortune portended by the vyonster overtakes 
him .” Nilsson too, writes of the fishermen on the banks: 
“Among other things they believe that on board the 
vessel on which an Angler is taken, someone is feg a , 
i. e. doomed to die soon. They, therefore, never or 
hardly ever take the Angler on board, but prefer to 
cut the line and thus lose the hook with the fish. 
Sometimes, when they have drawn it up to the surface, 
and when its wide mouth is open, they cast a stone, 
the largest a man can lift, into its throat, and thus 
sink it to the bottom.” It is, therefore, seldom that 
the Angler is made use of in any way, though its 
flavour is said to be far from bad. 
Linnaeus called the Angler hafs-padda (-- Sea -toad, 
Skdnska resan, p. 327) and grodqvabba (-Frog-fish, 
Mus. Ad. Fr.). According to Ekstrom and Malm the 
most common name for the species in Bohuslan is merulk 
(Sea-cot tus); according to Cedersteom and Malm it is 
called hafulk ( haf = mer ) in the north of Bohuslan. 
Genus. ANTENNARIUS. 
Head middle-sized, and, like the body, laterally compressed: mouth more or less perpendicular, middle-sized, or fairly 
large. Bones of the head without spines. Body naked or with sparse, granular papillae or pointed spines, and most 
often with dermal fringes. Lower jaw, intermaxillary bones, palatine bones and the head of the vomer, as well as the 
upper and lower pharyngeals, f urnished with cardiform teeth. Eyes set laterally. In the first dorsal fin three rays, 
the first two on the snout (in front of the eyes), the third on the front behind the eyes; the first tentacular with foliate 
tip and set just in front of the base of the second, the last two strong, spinous rays, with a more or less developed, 
thick fin-membrane behind them. Second dorsal fin considerably longer than the anal. Four gills; hut the fourth 
branchial arch with no gill- slit behind it, and the first 'with branchial lamellce only on its inferior part. Gill-rakers 
only slightly developed, verrucose. The gill-openings resemble comparatively small holes in the lower corner of the 
axil. Basal bones of the pectoral fins three. Ventral fins perfect. No pyloric appendages. Air-bladder present. 
Bays of the caudal fin 9. Posttemporal bone free , and articulating with the mastoid bone. 
The compressed form of the Antennarii (Linnaeus) 
causes the characters of the Pediculati to appear here 
in a singular manner. Those of these fishes that creep 
among seaweed and coral, look like strange quadrupeds, 
the ventral fins taking the place of the forelegs, and the 
geniculate, pectoral fins that of the hind legs. Though 
Scotch ‘fey’. Sw. feg properly = cowardly. Tr. 
