76 Supplement to the History

# On the Variety of Globe-fishes

Various authors suggest that there are many different types of these fishes. While Salviani recognized only one species in this genus, Pierre Belon reports two kinds—both round and covered with a hard skin—though he only illustrates one of them. Guillaume Rondelet indicates there are even more varieties brought from Eastern and Northern regions, and he provides drawings for three: the first he simply calls the *Orbis*, the second the "Shielded *Orbis*," and the third and final one the "Prickly *Orbis*." Conrad Gessner adds other types to these, though they have less rounded bodies. Furthermore, in our own *History of Fishes*, the Rhodian and the Starry *Orbis* were also displayed.

Finally, among the many species of this genus, Clusius mentions a "Frog-mouthed *Orbis*." It reached sixteen inches in length, and the circumference of its body exceeded twenty inches. The entire body was dark, distinguished by whitish spots. The head was thick, with raised brows and a somewhat wide, gaping mouth like that of a frog—a shape quite different from other globe-fishes.

Although Gessner reviewed various differences of the oblong *Orbis*, he did not depict this species as elegantly as Clusius did. Clusius also casts doubt on whether such a fish can be called the "Sea Hare" of Apuleius, as Gessner suggests.

In addition, the same Clusius mentions in his *Exotica* an oblong *Orbis* with the head of a tortoise. It was covered in dark-colored skin and patterned with unequal scales—sometimes nearly circular, sometimes rhomboid or quadrangular—all of which bore white spots. It had a long neck, contrary to the nature of other globe-fishes, and on each side near the neck, it had a brownish-red fin, similar to the fins on its lower back.

For the present, we have other illustrations to present. The first is the "Toothed Spanish *Orbis*." The second is a painting of a Northern fish depicted in Olaus Magnus's map, which seems to belong among the *Orbis* species even though he calls it a "twelve-foot fish" (a measurement Gessner believes refers to the fish's length). Finally, in the third place, we present the likeness of a prickly fish, perhaps of the *Orbis* genus, which was shared with us by Joachim.