118 On the Eggs and Spawning-habits of the Pilot Fish. 



proximity is explained as a precaution against the attack of 

 the shark itself. It is not in accordance with the supposed, 

 amicable arrangement whereby the pilot is allowed to have 

 a share of food or excrement, in return for its piloting 

 services. According to actual observation, the shark is not 

 at all disconcerted by the absence of the pilot, but the pilot 

 is said to be greatly agitated by the loss of the shark. It 

 has even been observed " clinging to the side of a shark," 

 and, on one occasion, it is stated that it was seen to leap 

 out of the water in an endeavour to follow a shark which 

 had been caught by hook and was being hauled on board 

 a ship. 



Another peculiarity in the behaviour of the fish, which 

 seems to be of some significance in this enquiry, is the well- 

 known fact that it sometimes accompanies large sailing-ships, 

 which it follows so persistently that it is drawn far away 

 from its natural habitat. It even follows the ship into the 

 harbour, where it is easily caught. 



Most of these peculiarities would be sufficiently explained 

 if we suppose the pilot's eggs to be attached to the rough 

 skin of the shark, or to the bottom of the ship, which is 

 so persistently followed. We may recall in this connection 

 the solicitude of such fishes as the Blennies for the safety of 

 their eggs, how they keep close guard over them, driving 

 off any approaching intruder. The close proximity of the 

 pilot to the shark, the darting forward towards any strange 

 object (which seems to be an undoubted fact), the persistence 

 in following the shark or the ship in circumstances which 

 are unfavourable to its own welfare, would seem to indicate 

 a very powerful motive, not dissimilar to that of the fishes 

 which guard their eggs. 



The fact that the young stages of Naucrates are frequently 

 got, but that no pelagic eggs such as those above described 

 have, so far as I can ascertain, been procured in tow-nets, 

 seems to have some further significance in this enquiry and 

 to indicate that the eggs of Naucrates are not floating. 



The only sufficient proof of the suggestion here offered 

 would, of course, be the finding of such eggs attached to 

 the body of a large shark or ship, which had been accom- 

 panied by a pilot fish, and it may be that, with the above- 

 mentioned facts in view, the opportunity may arise for the 

 solution of the long-standing mystery of the pilot fish. 



