Bulkheads and Gurnards 



627 



Photo by W. Savillc-Kent, F.Z.S.} 



[Milfentl-on-Sea. 



BUTTERFLY-GURNARD. 



The head of all gurnards is encased in an armour of bony plates. 



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 BULL- 

 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 MILLER'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 



Photo by Reinhold Tkiele Co.] 



[Chancery Lane, W.C. 



REEL-GURNARD. 



The curious finger-like processes are used as organs of touch as well as locomotion. 



