Fishes (Pisces). loq 



of an animal with tliat of its surroundings in shape and colour has 

 already been mentioned on various occasions, whether it arises 

 accidentally or through purpose. It is to be found in Flat-fish 

 (p. io8), Octopus (p. 90), Crabs (p. 84), and Jelly-fish (p. 68). It 

 is also frequently to be observed in land animals, as protective 

 coloration in the sand-yellow desert-animals and the snow-white 

 ones of alpine and polar regions, or as mimicry in flies resembling 

 bees and locusts looking like pieces of plants, etc. 



Allied to the Sea-scorpion is the Goby, Gobius (fig. 68), a small 

 dark ground-loving fish generally hidden in a crevice of the rock 

 or in a bunch of algae, but more fond of movement than Scorpaena. 

 They lay their eggs in all possible situations (plants, empty snail- 

 shells, broken pottery, glass-tubes, etc.), each species, however, 

 making use of only one kind of object for this purpose. The 

 male protects the eggs until they hatch and defends them boldly 

 against every enemy. 



The numerous species of the Blennies, Blennius, are small, very 

 agile, predatory fishes which live in large troops in those parts of 

 the coasts, which are covered with sea-weeds. Their mobile bodies 

 are continuously darting about and, should danger threaten, they 

 disappear at once into some hiding place. Their curiosity and "cheek" 

 is extraordinary, and causes them to snap at everything, and to 

 annoy whatever cannot protect itself. They nibble off the gills of 

 the tubicolous worms, they make dashes for the eyes of crabs and 

 fishes, and they worry the ascidians till the latter die. So they 

 behaue with all helpless animals. The finest and largest species is 

 the Butterfly-fish, Blennius ocellaris (fig. 158), which possesses a 

 large black eye-like spot on each side of its dorsal fin. 



Hidden away similarly among the rocks we find the Rockling, 

 Motella (fig. 149), which belong to the family of the Cods. 



The transition from these fishes, tied more or less to the bed 

 of the sea, to the freely swimming fishes is formed by some good 

 swimmers, which, nevertheless, have a preference for the bottom 

 or the coasts and at times remain stationary like the previous 

 kinds, at another times swimming for considerable distances. 

 To this group belong several species of Gurnards, Trigla (fig. 76). 

 The Gurnards have a peculiar way of "walking" about on the 

 sand by means of the free rays of their pectoral fins (which are 

 destitute of membrane), the so-called "fingers". The hinder 

 part of the pectoral fins is very large and usually brilliantly coloured 

 and enables the fish to leap out of the water. They are predatory 

 fish, with a widely opening mouth, which will gulp down tremendous 

 morsels. Gurnards are remarkable on account of the peculiar 

 grunting sound they emit when taken out of the water. It is said 

 not to be a real vocal sound, but only a frictional noise produced 

 by the rubbing of certain hard plates of the gill cover against 

 underlying parts. 



