106 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



day in all parts of the world, and some of these 

 are remarkable among the denizens of the water 

 as the most striking instances of security from 

 assault through resemblance to inanimate objects. 

 The Australian species, Phyllopteryx eques, Gunth., 

 as figured in Gunther's Fishes, would scarcely have 

 led us to suppose that it could be devoured, even if 

 it had not chosen to assume the appearance of a 

 ragged bit of sea- ware. We have never taken any 

 of the Syngnathidce from the stomachs of other 

 fishes, and, according to authorities, they are not 

 supposed to be at any time food for other fishes ; 

 but yet they must be defended against some foe, 

 and we suspect, from their comparatively limited 

 number, that they must, at one time or other, be a 

 prey. For although the number of ova in the pouch 

 of the male averages, perhaps, 120, and of these a 

 small proportion, from some cause or other, do not 

 incubate ; yet, as they are carried, through the care 

 of their parent and the especial provision of a 

 pouch, through the most dangerous days of infancy, 

 until, by the absorption of the umbilical sac, they 

 are prepared to start on their own career, this small 

 number may in reality represent as great a reproduc- 

 tion as the more lavish supply of larger fishes, of 

 whose ova not one per cent., and frequently not one 

 per thousand, can arrive at maturity. 



It would be a matter of interest if observers would 

 note whether at any time these fishes are found 

 in the stomachs of our more voracious fishes. Even 

 in their first exit, after the absorption of the sac, 

 they are of a chitinous nature, and could scarcely 

 titivate the ordinary fish appetite. But how are 

 they kept down? Great shoals have appeared off 

 the English coast at various times, and their dis- 

 appearance requires to be accounted for. Accord- 

 ingly, while giving great weight to Dr. Day's 

 authority, we are disposed to consider that such 

 fish as the cod or the haddock (that unhesitatingly 

 devour large crabs and buckies, shell and all, as well 



