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Handbook of Nature-Study 



eyes, placed almost on top of the head, that no one could help calling one 

 of them "Johnny." A "johnny" will look at you from one side, and then 

 as quick as a flash, will flounce around and study you with the other eye 

 and then come toward you head-on so that he may take you in with both 

 eyes; he seems just as interested in the Johnny out of the jar as is the 

 latter, in the johnny within. 



The johnny darter has a queer shaped body for a fish, for the head 

 and shoulders are the larger part of him; not that he suddenly disappears 

 into nothingness, by no means! His body is long and very slightly 

 tapering to the tail; along his lateral line he has a row of olive-brown W's 

 worked out in scale-mosaics; and he has some other scale-mosaics also 

 following a pattern of angular lines and making blotches along his back. 

 The whole upper part of his body is pale olive, which is a good imitation 

 of the color of the brook. 



The astonished and anxious look on the johnny darter's face comes 

 from the peculiar position of the eyes which are set in the top of his fore- 

 head; they are big, alert eyes, with large black pupils, surrounded by a 

 shining, pale yellow line at the inner edge of the green iris; and as the 

 pupil is not set in the center of the eye, the iris above being wider than 

 below, the result is an astonished look, as from raised eyebrows. The 

 eyes move, often so swiftly that it gives the impression of winking. The 

 eyes, the short snout, and the wide mouth give johnny a decidedly frog- 

 like aspect. 



Although he is no 

 frog, yet johnny darter 

 seems to be in a fair 

 way to develop some- 

 thing to walk upon. His 

 pectoral fins are large 

 and strong and the ven- 

 tral pair are situated 

 very close to them ; when 

 he rests upon the gravel he supports himself upon one or both of these 

 pairs of fins. He rests with the pectoral fins outspread, the sharp points 

 of the rays taking hold of the gravel like toenails and thus give him the 

 appearance of walking on his fins ; if you poke him gently, you will find 

 that he is very firmly planted on his fins so that you can turn him around 

 as if he were on a pivot. He also uses the pectorals for swimming and 

 jerks himself along with them in a way that makes one wonder if he could 

 not swim well without any tail at all. The tail is large and almost straight 

 across the end and is a most vigorous pusher. There are two dorsal fins; 

 the front one has only nine rays; these are not branched and are therefore 

 spines; when the fin is raised it appears almost semi-circular in shape. 

 The hind dorsal fin is much longer and when lifted stands higher than 

 the front one; its rays are all branched except the front one. As 

 soon as the johnny stops swimming he shuts the front dorsal fin so that 

 it can scarcely be detected; when frightened he shuts both the dorsal fins 

 and closes the tail and the anal fin and spreads out his paired fins so that 

 his body lies flat on the bottom; this act always reminds one of the 

 "freezing" habit of the rabbit. But johnny does not stay scared very 

 long; he lifts his head up inquisitively, stretching up as far as he is able 

 on his front feet, that is, his pectorals, in such a comical way that one 

 can hardly realize he is a fish. 



The johnny darter. 



