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SUNFISH , a name chiefly and properly applied to a marine See also: fish (Orthagoriscus) of the See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order Plectognathi, which by its large See also:size, See also:grotesque See also:appearance and numerous peculiarities of organization has attracted the See also:attention equally of fishermen as of naturalists. Only two See also:species are known, the rough or See also:short sunfish (O. mola), which is found in all seas of the temperate and tropical zones; and the smaller and scarcer smooth or oblong sunfish (O. truncatus), of which only a small number of specimens have been obtained from the See also:Atlantic and See also:Indian oceans.
Sunfishes have the appearance of tailless fish. This is due to the extreme shortening of the caudal region which is sup-ported by only a few short vertebrae; the caudal fin is absent, what appears to be a tail being formed by the confluence of dorsal and ventral fins: pelvic fins are also wanting. The anterior parts of the dorsal and ventral fins are high and broad, similar to each other in size and triangular in See also:form. The See also:head is completely merged in the See also:trunk, the boundary between them being indicated only by a very small and narrow gill-opening and a comparatively small See also:pectoral fin. This fin can be of but little use in locomotion, and the See also:horizontal and See also:vertical movements of the fish, as well as the See also:maintenance- of its See also:body in a vertical position, are evidently executed by the powerful dorsal and anal fins. The small mouth, situated in front of the head, is armed with an undivided dental See also:plate above and below, similar to but weaker than the See also:teeth of the globe-fish (Diodon).
Sunfishes are truly pelagic, propagating their species in the
Sunfish (Orthagoriscus mola).
open See also:sea, and only occasionally approach the See also:coast. During the stormy See also:season they live probably at some See also:depth, but in See also:calm, See also:bright See also:weather they rise and See also:rest or See also:play on the See also:surface with their dorsal fin high above the See also:water. This See also:habit has given rise
to the popular name " sunfish," a See also:term also sometimes applied to the basking-See also:shark. In. some years the rough sunfish is by no means scarce on the See also: south coast of See also:England and on the Irish. coasts, where it appears principally in the summer months. The usual size is from 3 to 4 ft. in length, but this species attains to 7 ft. and more. One of the largest specimens (shown in the figure) was caught near See also:Portland (See also:Dorsetshire) in 1846, and is now in the See also:British Museum; its length is 7 ft. 6 in. The sunfish has no economic value, and is rarely, if ever, eaten.
Whilst the rough sunfish has a granulated, rough, shagreenlike skin, the second species (O. truncatus) has the surface of the body smooth and polished, with its small dermal scutes arranged in a tesselated See also:fashion. • It is oblong in shape, the body being much longer than it is deep. The sides are finely ornamented with transverse silvery, See also:black-edged stripes See also:running downwards to the See also:lower See also:part of the See also:abdomen. It has not been found to exceed a ft. in length. Only a few specimens have been captured on the coasts of See also:Europe, at the Cape of See also:Good See also:Hope and off See also:Mauritius.
End of Article: SUNFISH
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