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ANGLER. 
tinguished. During my last visit to Frankfort, Dr. Riippell 
shewed me several small specimens of a Lophius collected by 
himself at Messina, which, after a careful comparison with mature 
ones, I declared to be the young of L piscatorius, in spite of 
their apparent dissimilarity, an opinion which has been enter- 
tained by Dr. Riippell from the time that they first came into 
his hands. Having since compared those specimens and the 
account of Diiben and Koren, with a sketch fortunately made 
by Kiippell on the spot, and kindly presented to me, I have 
now not the slightest doubt that L. eunjpterus is identical with 
the Frankfort specimens, and that both are the young of L. 
piscatorius. 
In the Mediterranean fishes the first ray is comparatively 
longer than in the Scandinavian, and terminates in two com- 
pressed fiaps, which perhaps are only a more developed form 
of the transverse cylindrical knob in L. eunjpterus. How 
variable the length and the shape of the fins and of their 
appendages are, even in specimens of the same size and age, 
is fully proved by the Scandinavian specimens, one of which 
has the ventral twice as long as the other. Further, the 
anterior dorsal spine, whether it serve as a bait to attract 
other fish, (which is by no means improbable,) or as an organ 
of touch, is constantly exposed to injury from the peculiarity 
of its function. Finding it, however, sometimes very long and 
fully developed in old fishes, we cannot hesitate to assume 
that It is reproduced when lost; and this appears the more 
probable, if we consider that portions of the fin rays, as well 
as of the barbels, are reproduced in other fishes. We cannot 
therefore think it a matter of any importance when we find 
the anterior dorsal spine of different length, and its tentacle of 
different shape. Both are subject to an indefinite number of 
accidental and individual changes, besides the constant differences 
by which the young fish is distinguished from the old one. 
Finally, another source of discrepancy in the descriptions and 
representations of the authors named, is the alteration which 
the fishes undergo by their preservation in spirits. A part or 
all of the tender filaments in which the rays terminate are 
easily lost, and the fins themselves are considerably shrivelled 
up, so that it would be impossible to reproduce a figure of 
the present Frankfort specimens similar to that which was 
