CHAPTER VI 



THE GURNARDS, 'BULLHEADS, AND WEEVERS 



It is customary to associate the Gurnards and Bullheads 

 very closely, and the inclusion of the Weevers in the same 

 chapter will perhaps be resented for some reasons dear to the 

 systematic zoologist. At the same time, the wide differences 

 between the first two groups are scarcely less than those which 

 separate either from the Weevers. In structure the gurnards 

 and bullheads differ as completely as in habits. The dispro- 

 portionately large head and the spines on the gill-covers are, 

 in fact, their only common possessions. Otherwise the bull- 

 heads are for the most part dull-coloured, scaleless fishes, 

 which live some distance from the bottom, or which at any 

 rate seize baits near the surface, and lay heavy eggs that sink 

 in the water. The gurnards are generally brightly coloured 

 fishes, with scales, and with a row of spines along the lateral 

 line, also with their ventral fins modified into separate rays 

 that look and act like fingers. They keep almost entirely to 

 the bottom, but lay floating eggs. They reach, perhaps, their 

 highest development in the Mediterranean, whereas the bull- 

 heads are characteristically Arctic fishes. 



The Weevers are among the greatest dangers to shore- 

 bathers on our coasts. Quantities are caught in the trawl-net, 

 and on the quays at Lowestoft the writer has seen heaps 

 containing many hundreds, which are sold to fish-fryers at a 

 low figure, the proceeds being divided among the crew of the 

 smack as a perquisite. 



