Scorpioivfishes and Slime^heads 



617 



seaweed than parts of the fish. These appendages, by their waving motion, serve either to 

 attract other fishes or to afford concealment by their resemblance to the surrounding weeds. 

 The ground-dwelling forms have some of the rays of the breast-fin modified into finger- 

 like processes, like those of the Gurnards, by which they both crawl and feel. Some members 

 of the family bear a rather close resemblance to the Sea-perches. In addition to their ugli- 

 ness, some have become especially offensive by the transformation of certain of the fin-spines 

 into poison-organs. 



One of the ugliest, and at the same time most dreaded, of the family is the STONE-FISH 

 figured on page 619. Each spine of the back fin is grooved. At the lower end of these 

 grooves lies a pear-shaped bag containing a milky poison, which is conveyed to the point of 

 the spine by ducts lying in the grooves. The native fishermen carefully avoid handling 

 these fish ; but persons walking with bare feet in the sea step upon the spines, and, receiving 

 the poison into the wound, are killed. 



All the scorpion-fish are carnivorous, and differ from the majority of fishes in that 



Photo by W Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] 



AUSTRALIAN GROPER. 

 Highly esteemed as a food-fish. 



[Milford-on-Sea. 



they produce their young alive. The smallest of the Spiny-finned fishes are members of 

 this group, some scarcely exceeding 1 inch in length. They are common amid the coral- 

 reefs of the Pacific. 



Passing over some comparatively unimportant members of this family, we come to a 

 small group of vegetable-feeders from the Indo-Pacific, of which the TEUTHIS is one of the 

 best known representatives. They are chiefly remarkable for the fact that the abdominal 

 cavity is surrounded by a complete ring of bones, and that the air-bladder is forked at both 

 ends. Some are rather brilliantly coloured. 



The SLIME-HEADS, which constitute the next family, derive their name from the presence 

 on the head of large mucus-bearing cavities covered with a thin skin. The eyes are always 

 of great size, indicating a deep-sea habitat, or at least a depth only dimly lighted. All 

 indeed, save two species, descend considerably below the surface, one species having been 

 found in 345 fathoms. The species of one genus are believed to inhabit still greater depths, 

 for their eyes are extremely small, indicating degeneration through disuse. The copious 

 supply of slime is also an indication of a deep-sea habitat. The members of this family 

 vary much in size and shape, but the most remarkable of all is a small and rare species 



78 



