THE SMALL GAME FISHES 131 



"umph," which resembled the word many monkeys 

 utter when grunting their displeasure or pleasure, but 

 so loud and resonant that although I had heard various 

 fishes utter sounds I was amazed. 



Later I took one of the fishes from the tank and 

 carried it the entire length of the building to a dissect- 

 ing room, and during the passage the fish uttered the 

 sound continually, attracting the attention of visitors. 

 This sound is made with the air-bladder of the fish, 

 but is not so remarkable as what might be termed its 

 musical sounds. An acquaintance while walking on 

 the sands of San Diego Bay, very early in the morning, 

 heard a singular murmuring sound. It evidently pro- 

 ceeded from the water, and presently so increased in 

 volume that the listener stood for some time trying to 

 trace it. Finally, with the aid of a boat, he discovered 

 that the sounds came up from the sea, and emanated 

 from a school of midshipmen. To the observing 

 fishermen alongshore, and especially at San Pedro, 

 the music of the fishes is familiar, but it rarely happens 

 that a landsman has the opportunity to hear it. 

 : My informant stated that the sounds were perfectly 

 musical — a murmuring sound, which rose and fell 

 with a certain rhythm, and that it was a remarkable 

 performance not alone for the loudness of the notes, 

 but for their musical quality. 



I have heard the Catalina Port Jackson shark, which 

 lays a screw-like egg on the banks, utter a bark. The 

 bighead, a scorpion-like fish, also utters a croaking 

 sound; and I have heard that the big snake-like moray 

 found here utters sounds. Another fish, the torpedo 

 ray, found in these waters, cannot "talk" itself, but 

 it can make the man who touches it roar, with its 



