IIK) l!KC01!l>S OK niK AISII.-AI.IAN Ml'SKTM. 



somewhat jjioduced, so that tlie margin becomes excavate as in the 

 specimen Hgared. The following table illustrates the variation of seven 

 examples selected from the above sei-ies. 



l[(t}>{t)f. — The habits of /'. httdrc uteri have been observed by one of ns 

 (McCiiUoch) at several localities in Queensland. They move freely about 

 on the mud, when the tide is out, in search of small crustaceans and 

 insects, upon wliich they feed. When alarmed the}' skip i*apidly away by 

 means of their powerful pectoral, ventral and caudal tins, and retreat into 

 a ci'ab-burrow or some other crevice. At Cooktown, they were abundant 

 ai'onnd a narrow stream, a few yards in width, which enters Finche Bay ; 

 although many were driven towards the water, it was observed that none 

 entered it, but skipped over its surface in a series of sliort quick leaps to 

 the other side. 



At Port Curtis, it was noted that the raj)id jum]>ing movements 

 usually seen when they are on land are only adopted as a means of escape. 

 When undisturbed, they move in stages of two or three inches by raising 

 the fore-part of the body on the pectorals, levering themselves forward ; 

 at the same time the ventrals are moved forward so that they act alter- 

 nately with the pectoi"als, each tin of either pair moving in unison with 

 its fellow. After each interval of walking, the tish looks around for i)rey 

 by means of its elevated eyes, which ai'e occasionally turned down into 

 their sockets, apparently to moisten them. The agility of these little 

 fishes on the mud is so great that it is ditlicult to secure specimens without 

 injuring them, and series could onl}- be secured for study with a large 

 c;loth, whieli was spread over the mud, and suddenly lifted by strings 

 when the lishes hopped over it. They are astonishingly fearless, and if 

 driven from their feeding grounds, soon return, approaching to witliin m 

 few inches of one if no movement alarms them. 



These fishes are very vicious towards one ant)ther, and the smaller 

 e.\ami»les were noticed to retreat befoi-e the approach of their larger 

 fellows. From the fact that small crabs scurry into their burrows at the 

 appi-oach of a ri'i-idjilithnl nuts, it w«)uld seem that they largely supply it 

 with food, and one fish was observed to spring a distance of about si.x 

 inches at a cnib, which it secui-ed and munched with evident I'elish. 



At Kpi, in the New Hebrides, numbei's of rcriophthnlinng were 

 observed basking together in the hot sun on top of smooth basaltic rocks, 

 about five feet ab«)Ve the level of the sea. It was also nt)ted that specimens 

 placed in glass jars could climb the smooth surface of the glass with ease, 

 although their ventrals are ncjt united into sucking discs as in the gobies. 



