CHAPTER VII 



PIPE-FISHES, SEJ-HORSES, GLOBE-FISHES, SUN- FISHES, JND THEIR ALLIES 



BY W. 1>. PVCRAFT, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



THE fishes described in the present chapter form two well-marked groups, known as 

 the TuFT-GiLLEi) and the COMB-GILLED Fishes, on account of the peculiar arrange- 

 ment of the gills, or breathing-organs; they are also remarkable for their peculiar 

 shapes. The breast-fins are present in all; but in three of the families the second pair 

 of fins, corresponding to the hind limbs of the higher animals, are wanting. 



TheTuFT-GiLLED Fishes 

 are represented by two families 

 — the M.viLEL) Tube-mouths 

 and the PiPE-FiSHES and Sea- 

 horses, all of which have 

 undergone very considerable 

 modification of form, thebody 

 being encased in mail-like 

 armour, whilst the jaws are 

 toothless and produced into 

 a long tube. 



The first famil_\- is com- 

 posed of a few small fishes 

 from the Indian Ocean. 

 Grotesque in appearance, they 

 are remarkable also for the 

 fact that the female takes 

 sole charge not only of the 

 eggs, which are exceedingly 

 minute, but the young fry 

 also. Only one other fish is 

 known in which the care of the eggs and young is undertaken by the female: this is one 

 of the Cat-fishes, described in a later chapter. The eggs in the TUBE-MOUTIIS are carried 

 in a pouch formed by the union of the inner borders of the ventral fins, which are long and 

 broad. For the retention of the eggs within the pijuch its wall develops long filaments, which 

 serve the purpose of slender fingers. 



The second of these families contains the PiPE-FlSHES and Sea-HORSES. They are small 

 marine fishes, inhabiting the seas of tropical and temperate regions wherever there is sufficient 

 vegetation to offer shelter, for they are peculiarly defenceless creatures. They possess but 

 feeble powers of swimming, and consequently are not seldom borne away b\- strong currents 

 far out to sea or on to distant shores. Their method of locomotion is, indeed, quite different 

 from that of other fishes, as they progress neither b_v undulatory motions of the body nor by 

 powerful strokes of the tail, but by wriggling in the case of the pipe-fishes, or vibrating motions 

 of the back-fin in the sea-horses. 



The long, semi-cylindrical Pn'E-FlsiiES, partly on account of tlieir peculiar form and colour, 

 and partly on account of their swaying motions, so closely resemble the fronds of seaweed 



238 



Phtia hi .■!. 4. RtidUnd f S.n, 



GLOBE-FISH 



From the formidable armature ofspificSj knoivn also 



the Sea-licdge 



