xiv PREFACE 



which ha\'c been modified in a multitude of different ways in 

 accordance with the nature of their surroundings, in order to 

 fit them for the particular conditions under which they are 

 compelled to live. The importance of the part played by the 

 "struggle for existence" in moulding the bodies of fishes will 

 be apparent, and I have endeavoured to show how many of 

 the remarkable modifications of the various organs which go 

 to make up the body of a fish, although sometimes meaningless 

 at first sight, may be readily interpreted in terms of environ- 

 ment, animate or inanimate. 



The relation of fishes to the life of mankind has not been 

 neglected, and chapters dealing with the fisheries, fishing 

 methods, fishery research and so on have also been included. 

 The enormous development of our own sea fisheries towards 

 the close of the last century led to a great interest being taken 

 in the habits, and particularly in the feeding and spawning 

 habits, of the edible species. Much important research has 

 been carried out on these problems during recent years, but 

 the results are mostly buried away in scientific journals not 

 readily accessible to the public, who remain largely in ignorance 

 of the work which is being continuously done in order to main- 

 tain or improve the harvest of the sea. 



In preparing this work I have drawn on my knowledge of the 

 vast literature of the various branches of the science of ich- 

 thyology, and have consequently consulted a large number of 

 works of a technical nature, some of them in foreign languages, 

 not available to the general reader. It would, of course, be of 

 little value to include a bibhography of such works here, but 

 a short list of the more important and accessible books of 

 reference on fishes and kindred subjects in the EngHsh tongue 

 is appended for the convenience of those who may wish to 

 pursue the subject further. 



The use of technicalities has been avoided as far as possible, 

 and scientific terms have been included only where their 

 omission would be at the expense of clarity. It has seemed to 

 me convenient, however, to refer to each fish by its scientific 

 name (usually only the generic name, but occasionally the 

 specific name as well) in addition to that by which it is popu- 

 larly known, except in the case of lesser-known species for 

 which there are no vernacular appellations. In the legends 

 below the figures the name of the species is nearly always 

 given in full. 



Regarding the illustrations, the figures in the text are, with 



