368 FISHES. 



male, thougli, according to jM'Intosli/ they are often un- 

 covered at low tide and devoured by rats and crows. The 

 ventral fins form in this fish an adhesive disc, by the aid 

 of which it attaches itself to rocks. It preys on smaller 

 fishes, and is said in its turn to be much eaten by seals. 



The little Sea-snail, which does not exceed a length of 



6 inches, has the same modification of the ventral fins, 



but is without scales or tubercles. It is lio-ht 



brown, with darker bands. Cunningham^ says 



that the spawn has frequently been mistaken for that of 



the herring. 



A smaller and more active fish than the last, Montagu's 

 Sucker is of similar habits and aj^pearance, only more 

 Montagu's yellow, and marked with dark spots. As in 

 Sucker. all these fish, the normal colouring is subject 

 to much variation. This species is common in the 

 Hebrides (Harvie-Brown and Buckley). 



We now come to a small group of three fishes having 

 the sucker hetiveen the ventral fins, not to any extent 



Cornish formed by them. They also lack the spinous 



Sucker, dorsal fin. These, of which the Cornish 

 Sucker is typical, are thus distinct from the foregoing, and 

 are included in the present chapter only conditionally and 

 for convenience. The oval sucking-disc is divided into two 

 portions, the hinder part having a free edge of thick skin. 

 In colour this species is red above, lighter beneath, but 

 subject to much variety. This little fish, which rarely 

 exceeds a length of 4 inches, is common on all our rocky 

 coasts. It feeds on crustaceans and breeds in spring, 

 depositing the eggs in empty shells. 



The Connemara and Doubly-spotted suckers are similar 

 in habits. The first, which has a shorter dorsal fin, is red 



1 Life-Histories of British Food-FisliL's, p. 15. 



2 MarketaLlc Marine Fishes, p. 351. 



