THE FAMILY-LIFE OF FISHES. 



779 



company, cons^isting often of several hundred little beings, crowd 

 closely up to their protector. As already said, the Cyclopterus is but 

 a poor swimmer, and it seems but natural to suppose that large waves 

 should threaten danger, and that heavy breakers could easily hurl it 

 on shore. But kind Nature has taken precautions. This curious in- 

 habitant of the sea is capable of adhering so firmly to any object, rocks, 

 drift-wood, or marine plants, that the most powerful waves can not 

 tear it from its support. Its numerous slimy tins can be made to serve 

 as a suction apparatus, so that its body, when thus fastened to a stone, 

 appears like a ship riding at anchor. The Cyclopterus attains a length 

 of about sixty centimetres, and varies in weight from thi-ee to four 

 kilogrammes, sometimes even attaining a weight of six to seven kilo- 

 grammes. It can change its color from a yellow or a gray to black. 

 Its progeny is remarkably numerous. Sometimes it is found in the 

 Baltic Sea, but is seldom caught, on account of its peculiar mode of 

 living. The adhesion of its body to the objects to which it has become 

 fastened is so firm that a force of thirty-six kilogrammes is required 

 to tear from its hold a Cyclopterus of about twenty centimetres in 

 length. It has also been observed that this fish remains in one and 

 the same place for weeks together, waiting until its food, which con- 

 sists of sea-nettles and the smallest of fish, has come within convenient 

 reach. Similar to the stickleback, the Cyclopterus faithfully guards 

 its eggs, which always number hundreds of thousands, and proves 

 very courageous in attacking dangerous enemies and heroically shield- 

 ing its young. The male fish covers the eggs w-ith his body, and re- 

 tains this position until the little ones have made their appearance. 

 These fishes are seldom taken by man ; in Greenland and Iceland they 

 are sometimes caught in nets, and when found among sea-plants they 

 are speared with a prong-shaped iron. Their worst enemy is the seal, 

 who seems to find them palatable food, although they must be skinned 

 before they can be eaten. 



Some species of Ophiocephalus present interesting features in 

 their home-life. One vai'iety which inhabits the Sea of Galilee, in 

 Palestine, is known to seek shallow water during breeding-time. The 

 parent fishes fasten small pieces of grass, leaves, sea-weeds, parts of 

 shells, and small particles of wood, to a rock, or to the roots of an old 

 tree, and weave the whole mass into an oval-shaped nest for their 

 young ; they arrange the stalks of grass so as to form a net-like cover, 

 and then fill in the interstices with mud, taking care, however, to leave 

 several openings. At the lower end they place an attachment, gener- 

 ally egg- or pear-shaped, which serves as a sort of cradle, being rocked 

 to and fro by the swell of the waters. The eggs are deposited in the 

 center, and stick to the grass and side-walls of the structure. After 

 the lapse of but a short space of time the nest becomes crowded with 

 tiny beings, which seem anxious to be set at liberty, but are carefully 

 guarded by father and mother until they are capable of taking care 



