The long and tubular bill of this fish has gained for it the
name of ‘“snipe-fish,” and the species is further characterised
by the long, serrated dorsal spine, which points towards the
tail. There are no teeth, and the fish has been thought to
probe in the mud for food, like a woodcock; but this must
be mere surmise based on the structure of its mouth, for there
is absolutely no evidence of its habits at first hand. The
scales are small, and on the lower edge of the fish there are
short, sharp spines. In colour it is pink, with metallic
reflections and some silver on the sides and belly. It is
regarded as a deep-water species.
Coryphenoides rupestris is one of those very rare treasures
of the dredge for which no English name has been devised.
It is one of the “ longtails”” (Macruride), deep-water relatives
of the cod family, a small silvery fish with a curious truncated
head, pointed tail, and long, sickle-shaped, serrated dorsal fin.
The first dorsal is short ; the second is long, low, and soft.
292 SALT-WATER FISHES


The body is covered with spiny scales, and there is a small
barbel on the lower jaw. The teeth are small.
Day mentions two, the larger measuring nearly 6 in., as
having been dredged in 500 fathoms in the Faroe and Shetland
districts, on the outlying limits, therefore, of the British area ;
but there is a later record (1890) of one trawled, also in 500
fathoms or thereabouts, off Achill Head, and therefore definitely
in British seas.
