322 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Fishes That Hatch Eggs In Their 

 Mouths. 



BY C. H. TOWNSEND. 



There are two species of salt water 

 catfishes to be found on the New York 

 coast, the gafif-topsail catfish {Felicht- 

 hys marinus) and the sea catfish {Hexa- 

 ne7natichthys felis). Both species have 

 about the same range along the Atlan- 

 tic coast, being found from Massachu- 

 setts to the Gulf of Mexico. 



They are interesting to naturalists 



fishes, and are described as resembling 

 white grapes. 



The male fish must of course cease 

 feeding while the eggs are in process 

 of incubation, as the mouth becomes 

 quite distended with its load of eggs. 



The gaff-topsail catfish is so called 

 on account of the height of its dorsal 

 spine. The sea catfishes are smooth- 

 skinned fishes, reaching a length of two 

 feet and a weight of five or six pounds, 

 but the specimens so far received at 



Photogra|ili bv Edwin R. Sanborn. 



SEA CATFISH THAT HATCH EGGS IN THEIR 



lOUTHS. 



on account of the peculiar manner in 

 which they care for their eggs, which 

 after being deposited are carried in the 

 mouth of the male fish until hatched. 



This habit is practiced by marine 

 fishes of several genera inhabiting 

 other regions. It is definitely known 

 that the gaff-topsail catfish carries the 

 eggs in this way, and it is in all proba- 

 bility the same with the sea catfish. 



Prof. E. W. Gudger has taken as 

 many as fifty-five of the eggs from the 

 mouth of a single male of the gaff- 

 topsail catfish and has also found the 

 newly hatched young in the mouth of 

 the fish. He determined by dissection 

 that the eggs are cared for by the male 

 parent. The eggs are among the larg- 

 est in size produced by any of the bony 



the Aquarium have been of less than 

 half that size. Both species live well 

 in captivity and have been taken at 

 Gravesend Beach, New York Bay, on 

 several occasions, but they do not seem 

 to appear in our waters every year. 



The New York Aquarium has at 

 present twelve specimens of the sea 

 catfish {H. felis), the largest of which 

 is fourteen inches in length. They 

 have lived in the Aquarium for three 

 years. 



These fishes have been found to feed 

 largely o" small Crustacea, mollusks, 

 worms, sea anemones and algae, to- 

 gether with some small fishes. 



The sea catfishes are but little es- 

 teemed as food fishes, but according 

 to Mitchell are really good eating. 



