Volume 39, Plate XXXIV / Ichthyology (Fish)

Myxine, or Glutinous Hag & Lancelot

Gastrobranchus cæcus & Amphioxus lanceolatus

1. Myxine, or Glutinous Hag. Almost worm-like and once placed by Linnaeus among the Vermes, the Glutinous Hag is destitute of eyes, with a cirri-surrounded mouth and a narrow linear dorsal fin, its vertebral column merely a rudimentary cartilaginous tube. It is said to enter the mouths of other fish and devour all but skin and bones, using eight barbules as organs of touch and a hooked palatal tooth, and is not very rare, occurring at Berwick, Belfast, and along eastern England.
2. The Lancelot. Having occurred several times in the British seas and known also on the coasts of Norway, Sweden, and the Mediterranean, the Lancelot is a singular fish whose peculiarities have been treated at length elsewhere. A second species lately discovered off Algiers, possessing a circular mouth, confirms the view of those who associated the Lancelot with the lampreys, a position many had doubted its characters warranted.