THE WRASSE-LIKE FISHES 



237 



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BLACK-SPOTTED PARROT-FISH 



The jit-ih of some oj the PaTrot-luraaei is of great delicacy 



pense incurred by Elipentiiis 



was justified, in the opinion 



of the Roman gourmands, by 



the extreme deUcacy of the 



flesh. It was a fish, said tiie 



poet, whose very excrement 



the gods themselves were 



unwilling to reject. Its Hesh 



was tender, agreeable, sweet, 



easy of digestion, and quickl_\- 



assimilated ; yet, if it happened 



to have eaten an aph'sia, it 



produced violent diarrhcea." 



To this day the Greeks hold 



it in high regard, and eat it 



with sauce made of its liver 



and intestines. It feeds on seaweed, and from its habit of thoroughly chewing its food, and 



moving it backwards and forwards in the mouth, it was at one time believed that this fish 



chewed the cud after the fashion of the ruminating mammals ! 



One of the most interesting of all the wrasses is a small s[)ecies from King George's 



Sound, which, while retaining the principal characters common to the group, has assumed 



the general shape and [sroportions of the pipe-fish. 



The third famil_\- of the wrasses are remarkable chiefly on account of the fact that they 



produce their _\-oung ali\'e. These fishes are confined to the temperate regions of the North Pacific. 

 The ClIROMlDS constitute the last famil\- of the wrasse-like group. Numerous in species, 



they are all dwellers in fresh-water. One species occurs in amazing numbers in the Lake of 



Galilee, shoals over an acre in extent, and so closel)' packed that mo\'ement seemed almost 



impossible, ha\ing been recorded. They are taken in such enormous numbers that the nets 



in which the)' are caught often break. Occasionally shoals are carried down the Jordan into 



the Dead Sea; but the fish never get farther than a few yards, becoming stupefied almost 



at once, and, turning o\-er on their backs, fall an easy prey to flocks of cormorants and 



kingfishers. Heaps of putrefying carcases are washed ashore, poisoning the atmosphere, in spite 



of the presence of flocks of ravens and vultures which have gathered to the feast. 



Another species is remarkable for its peculiar method of protecting the eggs and young. 



The female deposits the eggs, o\-er 200 in number, in a small hole worked out among the 



roots of reeds and rushes. There they are taken into the mouth of the male one by 



one, and retained till hatched 



a few da\s later. The young 

 fry remain in this nursery 

 for some considerable time, 

 increasing rapidly in size, so 

 that the father-nurse is unable 

 to close his mouth. Some of 

 the }-oung develop among 

 the gills ; others lie, closely 

 packed, with their heads 

 turned towards the mouth of 

 the parent, remaining in this 

 position till nearly 4 inches 

 ph,:ii, II y. L<:imjtn\ ii\.tv ,..t long, when the}' are ejected 



AWRASSE or wriggle out to forage for 



The majoruv of the Wrasses are brilliantly coloured thcmSelveS. 



16 



