XO. 180I MII.LERS-TIIUMP. AND ITS HABITS GII.L IO9 



Crustacea, all belonging to the genus Asellus, eaten, by two of the 

 fishes, composed the remaining twenty-nine per cent." 



But they are interesting to man, more especially on account of 

 their destructiveness to fish-eggs. Inhabitants of the same waters 

 as the Trouts, they are notorious for their ravages on the eggs of 

 the latter fishes. They are consec^uently objects of detestation to 

 pisciculturists and their numbers have sometimes to be reduced by 

 special efforts. They crush the eggshells as well as the horny cover- 

 ings of crustaceans and insects and reject them. A kind of masti- 

 cation is thus manifested.^ 



Fatio has well described the manner in which the Cottus gohio 

 procures its food. It lays in wait patiently and motionless till a fit 

 victim comes within easy distance, and then springs upon it before 

 the incautious animal is aware of its danger. If the prey is compar- 

 atively large — a Minnow, for instance — it will be seized head first, 

 and while it is gradually taken inward, the Cottid looks as if it were 

 chewing with its pharyngeal teeth. At other times, without moving 

 its body, it will blow a current of water against some small body 

 suspended above and in this way make it fall towards itself. Such 

 a feat (which the present writer has never witnessed) was several 

 times observed by Fatio and reminded him of the superior skill of 

 the Archer-fish of Java (To.vofcs jaculator). The mobility of the 

 eyes upwards is advantageous to the fish for such purpose.^ 



^ Quoique done d'appetits voraces ce petit carnivore parait, en effet. ne pas 

 gouter beaucoup les proles a enveloppes dures; du moins, je I'ai vu souvent 

 happer par inadvertance et cracher de suite diverses sortes d'articules. (Fatio, 

 Faune Vert, de la Suisse, iv, 1882, p. 127. See also this article, p. 113.) 



"Si la proie est grosse, un petit goujon ou un veron, par exemple, I'animal 

 avale, la tete la premiere disparaitra petit a petit dans le gouffre qui I'attire, 

 sans que le Chabot ait I'air d'operer la moindre mastication avec les maxil- 

 laires, probablement sous Taction et la traction des dents pharyngiennes. 

 D'autres fois, enfin, mieux nourri ou plus paresseux, notre Cottus usera de 

 petits subterfuges pour amener jusqu'a lui les miettes qu'il desire; sans 

 prendre la peine de bouger, il projetera ou soufflera, par exemple, un courant 

 d'eau contre tel ou tel petit corps suspendu au-dessus de lui et qu'il veut 

 detacher pour le faire rouler jusqu'a lui. Cette petite manoeuvre, que j'ai eu 

 I'occasion de voir executer plusieurs fois, rappelle, jusqu'a un certain point, 

 I'adresse du Toxotes jaculator de Java qui projette, souvent a une distance 

 de trois a cinq pieds, une goutte d'eau sur les insectes poses au-dessus de la 

 surface, dans le but identique de les faire tomber et de s'en emparer (Fatio, 

 op. cit., pp. 126, 127). 



