FLYING FISHES AND THKIP. HABITS. HIT) 



apt name (U'plialdcantlnis (spiiiod head) was <riveii. But lietween 

 the very littlo fish and the one about 2 inches kmg all irradations 

 occur. With advancin<>: age the spines become more and more 

 reduced, the pectorals elon<jated, ditlVrentiation of each pectoral 

 into t^vo distinct parts supervenes, and the spinous dorsal is at length 

 as large as the soft. The mature or true Dactylopterus stage is thus 

 attained. This condition of matui"ity, however, may be hastened or 

 delayed so that it may be attained when the fish is smaller than many 

 which still have the attributes of immaturity, or it may be delayed 

 until the fish has reached a length of 2 inches even. The transfor- 

 mation of the Cephalacanthus into the Dactylopterus, nevertheless, 

 takes place rapidly at last. 



V. 



The Dactylopterids are not usually looked upon as game fishes, but 

 Moseley, while on the Challenger^ hooked one at Cape Verde of which 

 he tells in his Notes by a Naturalist. " The trammel net was set 

 nightly in the harbor by Mr. Cox, the boatswain, and yielded some 

 fine fish. Among these were some flying gurnets, Avhicli evidently, 

 from their being caught in the trammel, frequent the bottom a good 

 deal like our wingless gurnets. One was caught with a line at the 

 bottom. I hooked one, however, near the surface, when fishing with 

 a rod and trout tackle for small mackerel and silver fish. This was 

 quite a novel experience in fishing. The flying fish darted about like 

 a trout and then took a good long fly in the air, and in an instant was 

 down in the water again and out again into the air, and being beyond 

 my skill in playing wdth such light tackle, soon shook itself loose and 

 got free." 



Moseley not onl}^ made an attempt on the fish as an angler, but also 

 as a foAvler. As the Challenger, on its way from Ascension Island, 

 approached Boatswain Bird Island, and " as the vessel steamed along 

 the shore of the main island, large flying gurnets {Dactijlopterus) ^'' 

 it appears from the narrative (p. 298), "rose, scared by the vessel, 

 and skimmed rapidly away in front of the bows. The attempt was 

 made to shoot them on the wing, a novel experiment, but qtiite with- 

 out success. The flight was rapid and the boat was in constant 

 motion, pitching and rolling; no doubt in calm weather the thing 

 might be done," thought the narrator. 



The Dactylopterids are naturally quite sensitive to cold. At Na- 

 ples it was practically impossible to keep a lot through the winter. 

 According to Schmidtlein, their life is considerably shortened by the 

 cold of the winter, and it has a very disturbing influence on their 

 health, makes them sluggish and dull, and but rarely permits a speci- 

 men to live through the winter months till spring. The fish is, there- 

 fore, a periodical guest of the aquarium, the supply being renewed 

 e-very season. 



