OCTOBER, 1882. 237 



carelessly into the waving tangle fronds now gradually 

 being lifted higher and higher by the rising tide. On 

 the top of a rich frond a little creature is nestling, and 

 we call attention to his successful imitation of the colour 

 of the sea ware, supposing the visitor to be a specimen 

 of the two-spotted sucker fish, so common about our 

 shores. But their eyes have not caught the little fellow, 

 and we slip our hand-net under it and bring it on board, 

 when to our surprise it proves to be a female of the 

 Montague Sucker Fish (Liparis Montagui). This fish 

 has the dorsal and anal fins and tail prettily marked with 

 dark spots, in lines, in the female ; while the sucker on 

 the breast is much smaller than and of a different, 

 character from, those of our other little sucker fishes. It 

 proves extremely active and restless in captivity. Still, 

 when it might have escaped into the waters of Loch 

 Linnhe, it trusted to its resemblance to the marine 

 vegetation around it, and made no effort to elude capture. 

 Although we have not met with an example hitherto 

 and it is said to be very rare in Scotland we yet may 

 only be unaware of its presence through want of attention 

 to the minuter frequenters of our coasts. We afterwards 

 found them not uncommon at certain seasons. 



If " circumstances alter cases," similar circumstances 

 produce remarkably similar results in widely different 

 " elements." We all know how the Sygnathus or Pipe- 

 fish has pouches like a Kangaroo for the reception of its 

 young, and we find here, amid these fronds from the 

 deeper waters, the homes of annelids, exactly similar in 

 character to those of many terrestrial caterpillars. Here 

 they are with nests made of the seaweed fronds curled 

 round, and bound, or agglutinated together with tough 

 gelatinous threads. They might be caterpillars on the 



