The Colors of Fishes 83 
among the fronds of ulva, and olive-green among Sargassum 
or fucus, the markings and often the form corresponding to the 
nature of the alge in which the species makes its home. 
Sexual Coloration.—In many groups of fishes the sexes are 
differently colored. In some cases bright-red, blue, or black 
markings characterize the male, the female having similar 
marks, but less distinct, and the bright colors replaced by olive, 
Fie. 65.—Lizard-skipper, Alticus saliens (Forster). A blenny which lies out of 
water on lava-rocks, leaping from one to another with great agility. From 
nature; specimen from Point Distress, Tutuila Island, Samoa. (About one- 
half size.) 
brown, or gray. In a few cases, however, the female has marks 
of a totally different nature, and scarcely less bright than those 
of the male. 
Nuptial Coloration. — Nuptial colors are those which appear 
on the male in the breeding season only, the pigment after- 
wards vanishing, leaving the sexes essentially alike. Such 
colors are found on most of the minnows and dace (Cyprinide) 
of the rivers and to a less degree in some other fresh-water 
fishes, as the darters (Etheostomine) and the trout. In the 
