264 BY THE DEEP SEA. 



When on the floor of the emptied drang turning stones and 

 lifting weeds aside, we shall probably hear a great splashing 

 in the shallow pool behind us, and turning quickly see the 

 waters in commotion, but fail to detect the cause. But we 

 know from former experience that it is either a Tompot, a 

 Gunnel, or large Rockling. Fixing our eyes upon a large 

 stone towards which the surface ripples are setting, we 

 advance towards it and turn it over. " There he is ! quick ! " 

 But no ; he is as slippery as butter and glides rapidly through 

 our hands, though not so quickly but that we could identify 

 him as the Gunnel or Butterfish. We set out after him again, 

 and rout him out of the corner into which he had retired in 

 fancied safety. Next time he attempts to shelter under a stone 

 where there is a cavity only large enough to accomniS'date his 

 head and shoulders, but ostrich like, he thinks he is wholly 

 concealed. Keeping our shrimp-net close up, we seize him 

 just behind the head, but with a rapid turn his head is with- 

 drawn from the hole and his body glides through our hand 

 again, and he rushes headlong into the net. Safe this time, 

 and soon he is transferred to the glass jam-jar where we can 

 admire his lithe form. 



The Gunnel (Centronotus gunnellus] looks as though by 

 continually pushing his way through narrow crevices in the 

 rocks, he had become laterally flattened. Were he a little 

 rounded we might say his 

 shape was eel-like, for he gT^ "*"" 



is very long, and his dorsal Vs-^31 __ ^ni 



fin stretches from above GUNNEL. 



the pectoral fin along to the root of the tail. On the lower 

 side the anal fin similarly extends to the tail, but neither of 

 them merge into the tail-fin as in the Conger. The colour is 

 a yellowish-brown, darker on the upper side, which is slightly 

 mottled. Pectoral fins yellowish. Close up to the dorsal fin 

 on each side of the back is a series of from eight to twelve 

 usually nine very dark round spots, each encircled with pale 



