2l6 



A HISTORY OF FISHES 



carried mimetic resemblance to perfection, the outline of the 

 body being broken up by the development of numerous spinous 

 or membranous processes: some of these form leaf-like blades, 

 and, when streaming out in the water, give the fish an almost 

 perfect likeness to a piece of seaweed (Fig. 86). The general 

 appearance of a Carpet Shark [Orectolobus) or Angler (Lophius), 

 with its series of branched membranous appendages, which 

 tend to gi\'e it a general resemblance to a weed-covered rock, 

 has been already described, and there are a number of other 

 bottom-living forms which feed on smaller fishes and rely on 

 their resemblance to ordinary objects to escape detection. 



Fig. 86. 

 Sea Dragon {Phyllopteryx eques), X i. 



Some of the Poison-fishes (Synanceia), when lying motionless on 

 the bottom and partially buried in the sand, have the appear- 

 ance of lumps of rock or lava ; the Gar Pike (Lepidosteus) , when 

 cautiously drifting towards its prey, bears a strong likeness to 

 a piece of driftwood or a moss-covered log. Some small fishes 

 found in the mangrove swamps of the islands in the Pacific 

 look exactly like the old leaves of the mangrove trees among 

 which they swim. Another fish (Monocirrhus) , even more like a 

 dead leaf, has been observed in the Amazon River, and here, 

 not only the colour, but also the shape of the fish imitates the 

 leaf, even to the extent of simulating a short stalk at one end (Fig. 

 87). In the Bay of Panama little fishes have been seen swimming 



