LARVAL FISHES : THEIR METAMORPHOSES. 133 



its growth it ceases to feed, and thereby loses 

 considerably in bulk. At the same time it 

 develops what has hitherto been lacking — pig- 

 ment or colouring matter, then it discards its 

 larval teeth, and replaces its soft membranous 

 backbone by a series of hard and complicated 

 bones. Much of what these Italian naturalists 

 have told us was the result of direct observa- 

 tions of living specimens kept in an aquarium. 



The manner of captuie of these living fish 

 is curious. The majority are procured from 

 the Straits of Messina by a series of fortu- 

 nate accidents, which are constantly repeated. 

 These "accidents" are due to the fact that 

 mighty currents every now and then boil up 

 in the narrow straits, bringing with them 

 the strange inhabitants of these unexplored 

 regions — eggs, larvae and fishes of many kinds, 

 besides other forms of animal life. But besides 

 this there is yet another source from which 

 Leptocephali are obtained ; one of these is, 

 curiously enough, from the stomach of that 

 grotesque monster the sun -fish {Orthagoriscus 

 juola) ; another way is by dredging. 



It is certain that there can be few fish with 

 which we are more familiar than those which we 

 know as "flat-fishes" — the sole, plaice, turbot, 

 halibut, and flounder tribe. Yet, probably few 

 people have any idea of the wonderful course of 

 events which leads to the characteristic "flat- 

 fish" shape. Into this shape then we must look 

 a little more closely. To begin with, the familiar 

 "dark" side and "white" side do 7ir^^ represent 

 the dorsal and ventral aspects of the animal. 



