520 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



watches the surrounding objects, and darts at its 

 prey with great dexterity. When both approach 

 each other, they often twist their tails together, and 

 struggle to separate, or attach themselves to the weeds. 

 This is done by the under part of their cheeks or 

 chin, which is also used for raising the body when a 

 new spot is wanted for the tail to entwine afresh. 

 The eyes move independently of each other, as in the 

 chameleon : this, with the brilliant, changeable iri- 

 descence about the head, and its blue bands, forcibly 

 remind the observer of that animal. 



From the great similarity in the form and size of 

 the mouth in all the species of the Syngnathi, it is 

 probable that their food is also similar. Worms, 

 small mollusca, young and minute thin-skinned 

 Crustacea, and the ova of other fishes, are amongst 

 the substances sucked up, a feat which the Pipe- 

 fishes apparently perform by dilating their throats, so 

 as to draw food up their cylindrical beak-like mouth, 

 as water is drawn up the pipe of a syringe. 



The male differs from the female in being, from the 

 vent to the tail-fin, much broader, and in having for 

 about two-thirds of its length two soft flaps, which 

 fold together, and form a bag or pouch, something 

 resembling the nest-like pouch of the kangaroo and 

 other marsupial mammalia. In this pouch of the 

 male fish, strange to say, the ova of the female are 

 deposited and matured; nay, even after they are 

 hatched, they still find in this remarkable paternal 

 pouch a refuge and safe retreat in time of danger. It 

 is even stated by fishermen, that if the young are 

 shaken out of the pouch into the water, over the side 



