Fish and Their Fabulous Neighbors [ 167 



Fascinating Fins: Certain kinds of fish have fascinatingly special- 

 ized uses for one or more of their fins. The front ray of the first 

 dorsal fin of the angler fish is perfectly adapted as a rod and lure 

 with which it fishes for smaller creatures to eat. A number of 

 fish have fins modified into sucking pads, and some use specially 

 adapted pectoral fins for walking on the bottom of the sea or 

 even on land! 



MOVING THROUGH THE WATER 



The fish's mastery of motion in the water is wonderful to 

 behold. It can dart forward with tremendous speed, starting from 

 a complete "standstill"; it can progress a fraction of an inch with 

 scarcely a motion; it can move straight up or down or backward. 

 There are three types of swimming motions, and most fish use 

 all three. These are: a sinuous movement of the whole body, the 

 movements of the fins, and the propulsion resulting from water 

 being shot through the gill chambers. 





THE COD-PROLIFIC, USEFUL, STREAMLINED 



The codfish, which produces in the neighborhood of eight million eggs at a time, 

 is the most valuable of all fish, as far as man is concerned, because of its cod-liver 

 oil. The body of the cod, by the way, is admirably streamlined for speedy progress 

 through the water. 



