79 
and from the small size of the opening of the 
gills, can live a long time out of the water. 
The common Angler (Lophius piscatorius ) has 
a very large head and capacious mouth sur¬ 
rounded by a series of long filamentous pro¬ 
cesses, or tentacula. It is said to hide itself 
in the mud with its mouth open, when the fish, 
deceived by the tentacula, which they take for 
worms, are tempted to swim into its capacious 
mouth, and fall an easy prey. This species is 
also called, from its hideous appearance, the Sea 
Devil. 
The Hand Fish (Chironectes) have a com¬ 
pressed head and body, a smaller mouth, and 
the first dorsal fin placed between the eyes. 
The first ray of that fin is often free, and termi¬ 
nates in a series of small tentacula, which the 
fish uses as a bait for taking his prey, after the 
manner of the Angler. They have the faculty 
of inflating their large stomach with air, and 
giving themselves the form of a balloon, like 
the Tetradons; and by means of their pedi- 
celled pectoral fins can walk on the land, like 
a small quadruped, where they often remain for 
three or four days. 
The Beaked Anglers ( Malthe ) have their 
head flattened, and the muzzle produced into a 
short horn. 
The Labroid fish, so called from the large 
Room xi„ 
size 
