80 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIV, 



down to attract the inquiring eyes of some little fish or prawn. 

 Woe to those who give way to their curiosity ! The little Angler 

 may be inert as a stone while awaiting his prey but on these 

 occasions his jaws and throat are galvanized into surprising 

 activity — the prey is instantaneously sucked into the gaping mouth, 

 the jaws shutting with a snap. If danger threaten the " bait " — it 

 would be a misfortune to have it bitten off — the rod folds down 

 and the tassel-like end snuggles into a little pit between the 

 two strong fin spines immediately behind the fishing rod. As he 

 lives almost entirely on the bottom, his breast or pectoral fins and 

 in less degree the ventral ones also, are modified into hand-shaped 

 claws, most useful to elbow him quietly over the sand and gravel. 

 They occasionally spawn in the tanks; the eggs, extremely 

 numerous and tiny are embedded in a colourless gelatinous band- 

 shaped sheet, relatively of enormous size compared with the parent. 

 One such sheet deposited early in September 1919, measured 9/^ 

 feet in length, with a width of 614 inches. 



A second species, A. nninmifcr, is also found at Madras, but is 

 distinctly less common. In this the body is smooth and in colour- 

 ing irregularly blotched. 



The feeding of these anglers causes the attendant considerable 

 anxiety ; they are so accustomed to have their prey conie to them 

 and literally fall into their mouth, that when feeding-time arrives, 

 their more active tank companions give them no chance to get any 

 food. The attendant gets over this difiiculty by transfixing a 

 morsel of fish on the end of a long wire and dangling it above the 

 face of the fish. The temptation does not always succeed; this 

 fish takes so long to make up its mind that as often as not a 

 scorpion-fish pounces on the morsel and the whole operation has 

 to be gone through again — a situation that tries the patience of 

 the attendant and often results in the angler having to go without 

 his dinner. 



TANK No. 8. 



Of the numerous kinds of fishes in this tank, the most noteworthy 

 are the Glob2 or Puffer fishes, distinguished for the curious pro- 

 perty they possess of being able to blow themselves up with water . 

 or air when alarmed. Few are brightly coloured ; among these is 

 the one called Tctrodoii patoca (Tam. PnUi['iI(ic]uu) which shows 

 pretty shades of yellow and green on the sides and throat when 

 distended. The fore part of the gullet in these fishes is enormously 



