Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/156

142 presented to the notice of British naturalists, being found washed up by the violence of the waves on the rocks or beach. Though so limited in number, the fishes of this Family constitute three Sub-families, distinguished principally by the form of the head and mouth.

1. Cepolina. In these the muzzle is short, and the mouth cleft obliquely, so as to open upwards; the body is deepest at the head, and diminishes gradually to the tail, which is furnished with a distinct caudal, though united to the dorsal, as also to the anal, where this last is present. Most of the species are natives of the Mediterranean.

2. Gymnetrina. Here the mouth is small and little cleft; the body is excessively long and thin; the dorsal extends the whole length; the anal is wanting; the pectorals are minute, but the ventrals remarkably developed.

3. Trichiurina. In this group the muzzle is lengthened, the mouth deeply cleft, and armed with strong trenchant teeth, the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper, with a pointed chin. The dorsal is long, but not united with the caudal: the ventrals are wanting, as are, in one genus, the anal, and the caudal also.

"The Ribbon-fishes," remarks Mr. Swainson, who seems to have been personally familiar with not a few species, "although vastly inferior, in point of number, to either of the more typical divisions, is yet one of the greatest interest, since it contains the most singular and extraordinary fishes in creation.… The form of the body, when compared to fishes better known, is more like that of the Eel, the length