HAUNTS AXn IIMIITS OF THol'KAL l'ISHh\<; 



81 



tivc'ly ii' oiiL' ai)|>ro;it-lR's. or iiuike iill' al 

 a surprising rate of speed to shady 

 places if disturbed. Yellow, brown, or 

 purple iroruouians, heavy with expand^-d 

 polyps, stand on every side, with an oe- 

 easional coiled basket star close wrapped 

 about their branches, where its inertness 

 i'0ni])lt'tely belies its ainazin«:; power of 

 motion. Large spiny lobsters, torn be- 

 tween distrust and greed. I'idin undei' 

 mushroomed heads of coral })rotrude 

 their antenna^ and wave them frantically 

 over prollV'red food. Hermit crabs with 

 lu'avy shells sit aloft on purple sea fans. 

 With their spoon-shaped fingers spider 

 crabs, ensconced in safe retreats, grub 

 off the encrusting growth of ])lants and 

 till themselves to repletion. Others lie 

 safely buried, to venture abroad only 

 under cover of darkness. But manifold 

 as are the forms and habits of other 

 creatures, and particularly of Crusta- 

 cea, the fish fauna surpasses all in num- 

 ber of species, vivid coloration, variety 

 of adaptations, and, one might almost 

 say. in personality. 



The smaller fishes are an inexhaust- 

 ible source of entertainment. The 

 tiny, blue-striped Elacatinm^ oceanops 

 may be seen at almost any time creep- 

 ing over the bodies of larger fishes such 

 as grunts and groupers. Its jerky 

 movement seems a source of minor irri- 

 tation commonly borne with indiffer- 

 ence or an air of hopeless resignation, 

 even when the little fellows slip almost 

 within their host's capacious jaw^s. The 

 Severance of relations between the tw^o 

 usually occurs in stereotyped fashion: 

 the larger grows restless and with a 

 characteri-cstic movement halfway be- 

 tween jump and shrug rids itself of 

 its visitor, which then goes back to its 

 accustomed station near the coral heads, 

 or rests upon their vertical faces. 



An interesting habit shared by some 

 blennies and their allies is that of liv- 

 ing in cavities, which they discover and 

 occupy, or construct for themselves. 

 Perhaps the extreme example is that of 

 Fiemsfer which establishes itself in the 



cloai-a of lai'ge holothiirians. UnaLhij- 

 jiops anrifroiis, on the contrary, pre- 

 pares its own shelter in sandy ))hu'es 

 wliere the sul)stratum is suHieiently 

 compacl to iimke sii(cc>>fiil tunneling 

 j)ossil)le. ,l;n\s and gaping mouth are 

 its only in! i-ciicliing tools, but meet its 

 every need. It is found not uncom- 

 luoidy upon the open reef in little colo- 

 nies, the formation of which is probably 

 due in part to the discontinuous occur- 

 rence of suitable bottom rather than to 

 the social instiiicis of the fi>lics ihciii- 

 selves. 



During the day. if undisturbed. 

 Glial III/ pops may be regularly observed 

 resting nearly motionless in a semi- 

 vertical position above its burrow. 

 When alarmed it retreats into its hole 

 tail foremost and conceals itself until 

 the disturbance outside has ceased. 

 Then it reappears cautiously, its beady 

 black cA'es being so situated that it is 

 able to sweep the horizon with mini- 

 mum exposure. If nothing happens to 

 renew its alarm, it mounts a little 

 farther until its ventral tins are free, 

 rests for a moment in the mouth of its 

 burrow, and finally rises easily and 

 gracefully to its original position. 



Still another of these fishes (as yet 

 unidentified) shows a different varia- 

 tion of the tubicolous instinct. It lives 

 in holes, quite possibly worm tubes, 

 which it discovers ready formed in 

 pieces of dead coral upon the bottom. 

 Its most striking structural feature is 

 the immense dorsal fin, which when 

 raised seems nearly as high as the fish is 

 long. Its most interesting habit is that 

 of protruding its body for about half 

 its length from the chamber it occupies, 

 and then elevating and depressing its 

 great fin rapidly, as if it were wigwag- 

 ging in piscine code. This impression 

 is heightened when two individuals sep- 

 arated by no great distance stand erect 

 and repeat the performance in alterna- 

 tion. 



Displayed by less specialized mem- 

 bers of the great comple.x to which these 



