500 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
belongs to the Mediterranean. In the spring it ascends the rivers, 
where it is sometimes caught in abundance. Full-grown it is about 
three feet long, marbled brown upon yellow ; the dorsal fins are sepa- 
rated by long intervals ; its mouth is circular and surrounded by a 
fleshy lip, furnished with cirri, having a cartilaginous plate for sup- 
port ; it is provided on its internal surface with many circular rows of 
strong teeth, some single, the others double. 
The Lamprey feeds on worms, molluscs, and small fishes ; its mouth 
is a powerful sucker, by the aid of which it attaches itself to fishes 
often of great size, and sucks them like a leech. It is taken by hook 
and line, and speared by a sort of barbed harpoon, like the trident of 
Fig. 347. The Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). 
the mythological Neptune, which is thrown, javelin fashion, at the 
animal when seen at the bottom of the water ; the flesh is fat ant 
delicate. In the twelfth century one of our kings, Henry I., snrfeite 
himself at Elbeuf by partaking too royally of the Lamprey. The 
river-lamprey resembles the above in its general conformation, bn 
is much smaller, and differs in the armature of the mouth, having only 
a single circular row of teeth. It is blackish above, silvery beneat , 
and is common in the markets of London and Paris, being frequen . 
taken in the Seine. A smaller species, about ten inches in length’ 
never leaves the fresh waters. It resembles the last species in colour 
but its two dorsal fins are continuous ; it is found in most Europe ^ 11 
