FISHES. ACANTHOPT. 
XiPHIAS. 
Length from 3 to 5 feet. Mouth small, tongue thick and rough, with re- 
flected prickles. Lateral line irregular. Pectorals long ; the dorsal and anal 
fins falcate at their commencement. D. 54, P. 28, V. 10, A. 26, C. 30. Se- 
veral examples of this splendid fish have, at different times, been captured 
in our seas, or cast ashore during storms. 
Gen. LXXXVIII. XIPHIAS. Swordfish.— Snout sword- 
shaped. No ventral fins. 
169. X. gladius. Common Swordfish. — Snout long, de- 
pressed. Anal and dorsal fins entire. 
Xiphias, Sm. Scot. 23. Will Ich. 161.--X. Glad. Linn. Syst. i. 432. 
Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 160. — X. Rondeletii, Leach, Wern. Mem. ii. 58. 
Occasionally captured in the British seas. 
Length of the body from 6 to 15 feet, and of the snout from 2 to 3 feet. 
Colour dusky above, the belly white. Gape wide; the lower jaw short and 
pointed. The dorsal fin begins over the gills, suddenly reaches its greatest 
elevation, then becomes very low, until near the tail, when it suffers a slight 
elevation ; the intervening low membrane is frequently lacerated, and has 
led several observers to conclude that this fish possessed two dorsal fins. The 
anal fin bears a near resemblance to the dorsal in shape. On each side of the 
body, at the setting on of the tail, there is an elevated ridge. In a specimen 
which I inspected, (Brewster’s Journal, vol. ii. 187-), found in the Tay, the 
ridge on the left side was much more produced than on the right, and the 
same side of the body was of a darker colour ; as if the fish in swimming did 
not always preserve a vertical position. The stomach contained numerous 
remains of the Loligo sagittata, and its mouth is so constructed as to be able 
to swallow entire objects, not to tear off morsels, — circumstances which in- 
duce me to call in question the accuracy of those who deem this fish as vora- 
cious and destructive to Tunnies in particular. Sibbald first noticed this fish 
as an inhabitant of our seas. Willoughby states his having seen them of 10 
cubits. The snout of this fish has been supposed hard enough to penetrate 
the planks of ships. Mr Scoresby, in the Edin. Phil. Journ. vol. iii. p. 41L, 
states an instance of a ship from the coast of Africa, the bow of which had 
been penetrated by a bone, which he considers as the snout of the sword-fish. 
The proportions and structure of this bone, as stated, intimate, that, if it be 
the snout of a Xiphias, it must have belonged to an individual of a species 
differing greatly from the common sort. 
Gen. LXXXIX. CENTRISCUS. — Body oval ; compres- 
sed ; belly carinated ; the first ray of the first dorsal fin a 
serrated spine. 
170. C. Scolopaoc. Trumpet-Fish. — Scales small, rigid, point- 
ed. Colour reddish. 
Scolopax Bondeletii, Will Ich. 160 — -Centriscus Scol. Bloch, t. 123. f. i. 
Don. Brit. Fishes, t. 63. Couch, Lin. Trans, xiv. 89, and ib. viii. 358. 
— Occasionally on the south-western coasts of England. 
Length about 4 inches. The snout occupies about one-third of the length 
of the fish. Eyes large, irides w^hite, with a reddish tinge. 1st D. 4, 2d D. 9 ; 
P. 15 ; V. 7 ; A. 13 ; C. 15. — This fish may be considered as one of the rare 
kinds, but interesting as the only species we can claim to our Fauna of the 
interesting group to which it belongs. 
