58 
ROOM XI. 
Nat. Hist. 
The Wolf Fish (. Anarrhichas ) differs from the other 
Blennies in the jaws and palate being armed with large 
tubercular teeth, to which the fossil Bufonites were 
formerly referred. The gall of this fish is used as soap 
by the Icelanders, who compare its flesh to that of the 
eel. 
The Anglers ( Lophius ) have the bones of the wrist 
elongated, so that the pectoral fin appears to be placed 
on an arm. Their skeleton is very soft, nearly cartila¬ 
ginous, and their skin destitute of scales. They are 
very voracious, 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 surrounded by a series of 
long filamentous processes, or tentacula. It is said to 
hide itself in the mud with its mouth open, when the 
fish on which it feeds, deceived by the tentacula which 
they take for worms, are tempted to swim into its ca¬ 
pacious mouth, and fall an easy prey. This species is 
also called, from its hideous appearance, the Sea Devil. 
The Hand Fish ( Chironectes) have a compressed 
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 terminates in a series of small tentacu¬ 
la 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 pedicelled pectoral fins can walk 
on the land like a small quadruped, where they often 
remain for three or four days. 
The Beaked Anglers ( Malike ) have their head flat¬ 
tened, and the muzzle produced into a short horn. 
Cases 3 and 4. The Labroid fish, so called from the 
large size of the fleshy lips which cover their teeth, have 
the general form of the Percoid, with the body covered 
with large scales, and only a single dorsal fin, which is 
spinous in front. Their colours are generally exceed- 
ingly 
