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V. OBSERVATIONS ON THE HABITS^OF SOME^SOUTH 



AFRICAN FISHES. 



So little is known of the habits and behaviour of marine 

 animals generally that any trustworthy observations, even of 

 an apparently trivial nature, may prove the solution of many 

 practical and scientiiic problems, For instance, such ques- 

 tions as how and where fish spawn, feeding habits, rate of 

 growth, etc., are at the basis of most of the difficulties that 

 arise in fishery matters. 



The facilities afforded at the Government Marine Biological 

 Laboratory at St. James have rendered it possible to obtain 

 some information on the habits of Cape fishes, which has 

 already proved of practical service, and the following observa- 

 tions are a further contribution to this subject. 



Many of the South African fishes are particularly weU. 

 adapted for obser^'ation in captivity, owing to the fact that 

 shore-frequenting species are well represented here, as, for 

 instance, the family of the Sparidae, which include forms with 

 cutting teeth for the nibbling and seizing of food found on rocky 

 ground, and molar teeth, for the crushing of shell fish and other 

 salt-water animals with hard-protecting shells. While the 

 Sparidae are specially prominent in South Africa, less specialised 

 forms, such as the Cod family {Gadidcs) are poorly represented, 

 and this fact may perhaps be regarded as evidence of the greater 

 specialisation and differentiation of fish life in South Africa. 

 Their names need only be mentioned to show how many of the 

 common fishes belong to this family : White-stumpnose, Red- 

 stumpnose, Dageraad, Wildepaard, Steenbras, Hottentot, 

 Dasje, Steenje, Bamboo-fish, Panga, Galjoen, John Brown, etc. 

 These are essentially shallow water fishes, mostly frequenting 

 the rocks, weeds, or sandy shores, and feeding on seaweed, small 

 Crustacea and molluscs, etc. It is chiefly owing to the abund- 

 ance of such forms that amateur sea-fishing from the shore is- 

 so much more attractive in South Africa than in many other 

 countries. 



The two forms last mentioned ma}^ be taken first, as they 

 represent genera peculiar to South Africa. 



The Galjoen {Dipterodon capensis, C. & V.). 



This fish is abundant in shallow water close inshore, especially 

 in the summer season and, in spite of its being of a com- 

 paratively large size, about a foot or a foot and a-half in length, 



