Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/281

Rh In some of the genera the ventrals unite with the pectorals to make the disk; in others, they form a second circular disk in immediate contact with the other. The head is usually large and more or less flattened, while the body is commonly compressed laterally. The body is smooth, destitute of scales, sometimes unctuous or slimy, and generally repulsive in appearance, though often coloured with bright hues. The snout is lengthened but obtuse. The skeleton is so soft that some members of the Family are said to dissolve after death into a mucilaginous jelly, in which hardly any trace of bone remains.

There are about forty species now known, half of which are European, and one eighth British, The others inhabit the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific.

In this genus the head and body are deep, thick, and short; the back is surmounted by an elevated ridge, bearing no small resemblance to an anterior dorsal fin; this ridge is supported by several simple rays, but is covered with a hard skin. The pectorals unite with the ventrals to form a single disk beneath the throat. The whole body is covered with bony knobs or tubercles, some of which are larger, and arranged in longitudinal rows.

The Lump Sucker, or Cock-paidle (Cyclopterus lumpus, .), is taken all round our shores, but is more abundant as we approach the north. It attains a foot and a half in length, and is of the most brilliant colours. The body and head have