The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



[Vol. XXXV. 



tioiied above. A stimulation of the skin 

 of tlie side by touch caused the animal to 

 move forward when applied near the tail, 

 and to move backward when applied 

 farther forward. 



Respirat ion. OccaaionaXly the fish re- 

 treated to a position with about one quar- 

 ter of the anterior end protruding', and 

 Avith the ventral parts of the pectoral fins 

 bent back and applied to the bottom. The 

 liead and pectoral fins remained stationary, 

 and tlie remainder of the body performed 

 nndulatory motions, two complete waves 

 bein^' observed on the fish at any one mo- 

 ment. The dorsal fin preceded the body 

 slij:litly in the lateral movement. That a 

 current was made to flow tlirouf^'h the pipe 

 was demonstrated b^^ dropping some car- 

 mine, suspended in water, near the head 

 of the fish. The carmine particles were 

 drawn into the pipe. Other i)articles were 

 carried alongside the pipe and past the 

 other end. No carmine particles were ob- 

 served to issue from that end, probably 

 because of dispersion of the particles into 

 a larger volume of water, and because the 

 movement soon ceased. The fish seemed 

 to be irritated to some extent by the part- 

 icles. The movement lasted for from one 

 to two minutes. On one occasion the move- 

 ment was observed being carried out by 

 the fisli wlien it was not in the tube, but 

 in a corner of the tank with its head 

 against the end wall. 



The respii-ations luimbered from 12 to 

 20 per minute. When the animal was ap- 

 proached it ceased breathing for from one 

 to two minutes. At the conclusion of this 

 period of rest, it would either give two or 

 three deep inspiratory gasps, opening its 

 mouth widely, or would merely resume 

 breathing at a somewhat more rapid rate 

 than usual. Occasionally on resumption of 

 breathing the lateral undulatory move- 

 ments would be commenced, the anterior 

 part of the body remaining stationary. 

 There can be little doubt that these move- 

 ments are initiated by dyspnoeic condi- 

 tions, and that they are for the purpose 

 of renewing the water in the burrows in 

 which the fish lives. 



Feeding. The stomachs of specimens 

 that were opened shortly after being 

 caught contained beach fleas, or s.-uds, 

 (Gammariis locusfa), sand shrimp, {f ajo 



septemspinosus) , and fragments of 

 flounder, (Pseudopleurovectes america- 

 vus). The specimen kept in the tank took 

 food freely. It usually left its tube in the 

 late afternoon, and could be heard at dusk 

 thrashing around in the water. Scuds 

 placed in the tank disappeai-ed, as did also 

 hermit crabs {Pagurus acadianus). It 

 also took, when offered, small herring or 

 sardines, limpets, periwinkles, whelks, 

 clams, and mussels. These it would take 

 from the hand, even reaching out of the 

 water to seize them, and approaching from 

 a distance of as much as a foot. Sight seem- 

 ed to be as important as smell in determin- 

 ing its feeding, as it Avould show excitement 

 by moving its tail and lifting its head, and 

 finally move forward and snap with its 

 jaws when the finger was held just above 

 the surface of the water in front of it. Not 

 only was the food seized, but also there 

 was a strong indraught of water into the 

 mouth that carried the food along. When 

 the feeding was done at the surface of the 

 water, air also Avas drawn in, producing 

 the sound so characteristic of the last 

 stages in pumping the bilge water out of a 

 boat, when the water is mixed with air. 

 The dorsal position of the mouth is favour- 

 able to the taking of food from above, 

 which is perhaps the normal method with 

 this fish. At times, however, it was seen 

 to turn on its side in order to seize food 

 lying on the bottom of the tank. Food 

 taken into the mouth was either rejected 

 or swalloAved by a series of vigorous perist- 

 altic movements of the mouth and throat. 

 To swallow a very large piece might re- 

 quire considerable time, and might even 

 result in the fish coming out of its tube 

 for more freedom, and turning all the way 

 over once or twice in its swallowing efforts. 



Zoarces anguillaris (Peck). 



A muttonfish 45 cm. in length was kept 

 in one of the flat tanks of the laboratorv 

 during the latter half of the sea.son and 

 proved to be quite hardy. It fed regularly 

 on the fish and shell-fish given it, ap- 

 proaching from a distance of more than a 

 foot to take food from the hand. The 

 enormous thick liixs were used more than 

 the teeth for taking hold of the morsels 

 and a strong inspiration of water carried 

 the food in. Swallowing did not immed- 

 iately follow the taking of food, but was 



