BULL-HEADS AND GURNARDS 



627 





Pluu ty If. SavMi-Htnl, F.Z.S.\ 



BUTTERFLY-GURNARD 



The head of all gurnards is encased in an armour of bony ptalct 



means of their 



arm-like fins. Only 



one species occurs 



in British waters. 



Its method of 



spawning is remark- 

 able, in that the 



eggs are laid in the 



form of large raft- 

 like sheets, which 



float on the surface 



of the sea. The 



number of eggs laid 



by a single fish has 



been computed to 



be 1,345,000. A 



single sheet of 



spawn may measure 



from 2 to 3 feet 



in breadth and from 



25 to 30 feet long. 

 The HULL- 

 HEADS and GuR- 



NARDS.constituting 



the next family, are 



characterised by the spiny armature of the head and the great size of the breast-fins. The 



former are represented in British 

 waters by four species, one of 

 which, the MlLLER's-THUMB, 

 inhabits fresh-water. The 

 marine species include the SEA- 

 SCORPION and FATHER- LASHER. 

 The BULL-HEADS on the 

 Indian and Australian coasts are 

 represented by the closely allied 

 FLAT-HEADS, or CROCODILE- 

 FISHES, in which the head, as its 

 name implies, is much depressed, 

 and fully armed with spines, 

 which are highly poisonous, and 

 cause a violent irritation. These 

 fishes live in shallow water, 

 lying on the bottom, with which 

 their colours harmonise so com- 

 pletely that they are practically 

 invisible. The very large ventral 

 fins those seen in the photo- 

 graph immediately behind the 

 breast-fins are of great use in 

 locomotion. 



The GURNARDS are well- 

 known fishes, common on the 



nli tf Riinhild Thtitt & Co.] \_Chanur) iant, If.C. 



REEL-GURNARD 



The curious finger-like processes are used as organs of touch as "Wtll as locomotion 





