126 GIANT FISHES 



dart aside for a morsel of food, but hurry back again like 

 children afraid of losing their nurse ". 



Dr. Gilchrist has made the striking suggestion that the 

 eggs of the Pilot-fish, each of which, according to him, is 

 provided with a long, fine filament, are actually attached to 

 the rough skin of the shark or to the bottom of a ship, and 

 that the behaviour of the fish is due to a natural solicitude 

 for their safety. This explanation does not appear to have 

 been generally accepted, however, and another authority who 

 has examined the eggs of the Pilot-fish failed to find any trace 

 of the filaments. On the whole, the most reasonable explana- 

 tion of the association is that the Pilot-fish accompanies the 

 shark in order to obtain a share of its meals, and that it is 

 not itself eaten by its companion on account of its small size 

 and exceptional agility. 



The Pilot-fish is common in the Mediterranean, and was 

 well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Pompilus. 

 Curiously enough, nearly all the classical accounts refer to 

 an association with whales or dolphins rather than sharks, 

 and Aristotle calls the fish the " Dolphin's Louse ". Accord- 

 ing to Aelian, these fishes were supposed to be kindly disposed 

 towards sailors, and they therefore liked to approach ships, 

 which they guided across the ocean and finally announced the 

 proximity of land by their sudden disappearance. Oppian 

 celebrated the interesting habits of the Pilot-fish in verse. 



Spawning seems to take place in the open ocean during the 

 early summer, and at this season the young may be encountered 

 in large numbers. These are so unlike their parents, both in 

 form and coloration, that they were originally regarded as 

 quite distinct fishes. They are in the habit of swimming 

 about in small bands under and in the neighbourhood of large 

 jelly-fishes, Portuguese Men-of-War (creatures related to the 

 jelly-fishes), bunches of Sargasso weed, pieces of floating 

 wreckage and so on. 



As food the Pilot-fish is of no importance, and the flesh 

 has been described as resembling a " dry mackerel ". 



The Pilot-fish is sometimes known as the " Romero ". 

 The scientific name, Naucrates, is derived from a Greek word 

 meaning " ruler of the ships " ; the name ductor is a Latin 

 word meaning " a leader ". 



