The Hijlory o/ ANIMALS, 225 
lateral line is tolerably ftraight, and runs very near the back5 the anus is fituated 
nearer to the head than to the tail: the eyes are fmall, and ftand high in the head ; 
the teeth are large, and the front of the jaws is well furnifhed with them 3 the tail is 
broad and equal. 
This fpecies is frequent about the coafts of Minorca, and among the iflands of the 
Archipelago. Authors in general call it Novacula pifcis; Salvian, Pefce pettine ; and 
fome Pe&en, and Pe&en Romanorum. 
There is but one other known fpecies of this genus, which is the Coryphaena with 
an undivided tail, and with the lateral line crooked 3 this is defcribed by authors under 
the name of Pompilus. 
AMMODYTES. 
T H E body of the Ammodytes is oblong and flender, and is of a rounded, but 
fome what deprefied, figure; there are no belly fins: the head is of a deprefied 
form 5 and the branchioftege membrane on each fide contains feven bones, but they 
are in great part covered by the opercula of the gills. 
Of this genus there is only one known fpecies. 
Ammodytes. %f)t 0? 
The head of the Ammodytes is fmall, much narrower than the body, and of a 
comprefied figure, and acute at the forepart: the body is long and flender, and is a 
little comprefied : the lower jaw is narrow and acute, and projects a great way beyond 
the upper, and the opening of the mouth is large: the noftrils have each a double 
aperture, and ftand in the middle, between the eyes and the extremity of the 
roftrum : the eyes are moderately large, and their iris of a filvery colour : the laminae 
covering the gills are large and bony 5 the apertures of the gills are large : a lateral 
line is ftraight, and runs along the middle of the fide, at about an equal diftance be¬ 
tween the back and the belly: this, however, when ftridtly examined, is not ex¬ 
actly and properly what we mean by a lateral line in fifh, but marks only the interftices 
of the mufcles: on a nice examination there will be found another line, befide this, 
running from the head to the tail, near the back, and owing it’s appearance to the pe¬ 
culiar fituation of the fquammulae 5 this is properly the lateral line. There run along the 
belly alfo three lines in a longitudinal direction 3 they have their origin at the pedtoral 
fins, and the middle one terminates at the anus 3 the other two run to the tail. 
The fcales are extreamly fmall on the back 5 they are of a greyifh colour, with an 
admixture of brown, on the fides. The belly is of a filvery white. Moft of 
the authors, who have written on thefe fubje&s, have fuppofed this fifli to have no 
fcales at all, their fmallnefs having caufed them to be overlooked. The pe&oral fins are 
oblong, narrow, and very fmall 5 they are fituated immediately under the gills, and 
have each twelve rays 5 there are no ventral fins: the back fin is very long 3 it begins 
juft behind the head, and reaches very nearly to the tail 3 it has fifty-three \or fifty-four 
rays: the pinna ani is alfo long 5 it is extended from the anus nearly to the tail, and 
has twenty-feven or twenty-eight rays: the tail is fhort, and is a little forked at the 
extremity 3 it has fifteen long rays: the anus is placed much nearer the tail than the 
head. 
There are no teeth in the jaws, nor on the palate, but on the upper part of the 
fauces there are two oblong bones, which have very fmall teeth on them : the tongue 
is oblong and narrow, and is loofe on the lower part, and fmooth. 
We have this very frequent with us, and call the larger or fuller grown fifh Sand- 
eels, and the fmaller ones Grigs 3 but we have a way of confounding this with the 
eel, by calling the young of that fifli by the fame name grig. Many of the modern 
authors have got our English name, but they fpell it Sandilz : Schonveldt calls it To- 
bianus 3 and Gefner, Ammocretus, Exocaetus, and Ammodytes 3 Charleton calls it, 
Anguilla de arena 5 and Boccone, Circirellus Meflanenfis, 
M m m 
FLEU- 
