No. 5 (19^1) 



MADRAS AQUARIUM 



79 



or operculum ; the tip of each fin is also ornamented with a similar 

 dark blotch. 



Closely akin to the well-known Pomfrets are the curious Bat 

 fishes whereof the Black Bat-fish is the commonest. In these 

 fishes the dorsal and anal fins are so excessively elongated as to 

 give the body a crescent-like form — a weird black crescent moon 

 traversing a slow and stately orbit within the limits of this small 

 tank. In the young condition one of these fishes {Platax vespertilio), 

 often found in inshore pools on the rocky coast of south-west 

 Ceylon, has been noted as simulating in form and colour a dead 

 leaf, resemblance heightened by its habit of reclining on one side 

 for minutes at a stretch. 



Examples of two species of yellow Angler-fishes are always 

 present in this tank. The smaller one, Autciiiiarius liispidus (Tarn, 

 Thoppaimin), is common at Madras. 



I-IG. 15. — The ^'elluw .\ny;ler {Aiiiciinarius hisj'i.iiis) . X j 



Like its well-known relative in European waters (Lop/iiiis) it has 

 the first dorsal fin-ray modified into a miniature fishing rod with a 

 fluffy white tassel at the end to represent the bait. The angling 

 habits of the two differ considerably ; the big European fish buries 

 his body in the mud, the bait and a length of the rod protruding, 

 to tempt the curiosity of other fish, whereas the Madras fish is a 

 lumpy little fellow who loves to hide his yellow body striped with 

 brown among sea-weeds. There he remains motionless, camou- 

 flaged exactly in the same way as a tiger in a thicket of reeds or 

 bamboos. All that ever moves is the rod and bait. The former is 

 hinged near the base and the tassel bait is often flicked up and 



