SOFT-RAYED BONY FISHES 103 



their time at the surface or in the upper layers of the sea. 

 Ordinarily they swim with wave-like motions of their long 

 bodies, but, when startled, will skim along the surface at an 

 extraordinary speed. They are mostly seen in shoals, often of 

 considerable size, and live inshore during the warmer months 

 and retire to deeper water as winter approaches. When 

 chased by tunny or other large fishes, they will scud rapidly 

 along the surface with the major part of the body out of the 

 water. When engaged in chasing smaller fishes they have the 

 appearance of springing over the waves after the prey, and 

 they will jump over any floating substance or other obstacle 

 and alight in the water again tail first. A large Gar-fish may 

 be a danger to man when indulging in one of these leaps, and 

 one has been known to pierce the naked abdomen of a native 

 fisherman during its headlong flight. 



Fig. 36. — Common Gar-fish {Belone belone). 



Gar-fishes are very voracious their food consisting almost 

 entirely of other fishes. At times, however, they have been 

 known to feed indiscriminately upon all kinds of animal 

 substances. 



The time of breeding varies, of course, in different parts of 

 the world. The Common Gar-fish spawns in shallow water 

 from April to June. The eggs, which are about 3 mm. in 

 diameter, are usually deposited in seaweed, and have a curious 

 form, each egg being provided with a number of sticky threads 

 springing from its outer envelope, which serve to anchor it to 

 the bottom, to seaweed or rocks, as well as to other eggs. 

 When the little fish is first hatched the jaws are both quite 

 short, and curiously enough it is the lower jaw that grows out 

 first. For a time this is longer than the upper, and the young 

 fish resembles the adults of another family of fishes, the 

 Half -beaks (Hemirhamphidae) , in which only the lower jaw is 

 drawn out. Later, however, the upper jaw commences to 

 grow. While these changes take place the young remain 



