ISO ACANTHOPTERYGII. — LOPHIADiE. 
they have very little in the cross direction. The 
one near the lip, however, can be moved with nearly 
the same ease and rapidity in every direction ; 
and while the others terminate in points, it carries 
a little membrane, or flag, of brilliant metallic 
lustre, which the fish is understood to use as a 
FISHING FROG. 
means of alluring its prey ; and the position of 
the flag, the eyes, and the mouth certainly would 
answer well for such a purpose. 
The fact that the fish does use these long fila- 
ments as baits to attract the fishes which are to 
become its prey, seems to be indubitable, and has 
been known ever since the days of Aristotle. At 
that early period the instinctive stratagem had 
secured for it the name of Fisher, and the terms 
Fishing Frog, and Angler, by which it is known 
with us, commemorate the popular opinion of its 
powers. The absence of an air-bladder compels 
the LopMus to be a ground feeder, nor does it 
seem able to float freely at any depth without 
effort as many fishes do, or to do more than rise 
to the surface by the impulse of its fins, sinking 
as soon as the muscular effort is intermitted. Its 
* Miidie, in Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom, (London, 1840) p. 308. 
