FISHES AND SEA-SQUIRTS. 303 



fin rays number as follows: first dorsal, eight; second dorsal, 

 eleven to twelve; anal, nine. Both species often occur in 

 the same locality, are easily caught, and, in the case of small 

 specimens at least, live well in confinement. Very small 

 father-lashers can easily be kept alive in a shallow pie-dish, 

 provided they are regularly fed, for they are exceedingly 

 voracious. Almost any small marine animal is acceptable, 

 especially the young of other fishes, which are eagerly 

 snapped up. In consequence of their voracity, and the 

 ungraceful shape, the bullheads have come in for not a 

 little abuse at the hands of even naturalists, who should be 

 unprejudiced persons ; but, nevertheless, in life in their 

 natural environment, they certainly do not lack that adapta- 

 tion to their surroundings which is the first canon of 

 beauty, while their vivacity and activity make them most 

 interesting pets. 



The next fish we shall consider haunts in life sandy 

 places, but is often cast up on the shore, and has such a 

 mass of fact and fancy interwoven with it that we cannot 

 pass it by. This is the fishing-frog, or "angler" (Lopliius 

 piscatorius), sometimes called the sea-devil. It grows to 

 a huge size (six to seven feet), and is then certainly ugly 

 enough, but very small specimens are fascinating little 

 creatures. The head is exceedingly broad and flattened, 

 the mouth being enormously wide and capacious. The 

 name is derived from the fact that the first dorsal fin is 

 represented by a series of spines, of which the first three 

 are detached and form the " fishing-lines." The first bears 

 a little glistening flap of skin which acts as a lure in the 

 following way. The angler partially buries itself in the 

 sand ; the filament, which lies close above the mouth, pro- 

 trudes from the sand, and its terminal plate, which can be 

 moved by an elaborate series of muscles, quivers in the 

 water. The result is that little fishes swim up, from curi- 

 osity or hope of food ; then the great jaws open and the 

 little fishes are seen no more. The stratagem is evidently 

 successful, for the anglers obtain an enormous number of 

 fishes, so many that in some places the fishermen open 

 them for the sake of the contained prey. The anglers 

 swim but slowly, so that they could not hope to overtake 

 their prey by chasing them. When found thrown up on 



