"PERFECT-MOUTHED" FISHES 237 



the Climbing Perch (Anabas scandens) of Ceylon, that climbs low 

 trees in search of insects by means of the spines upon its gill-covers 

 and ventral fins ; the Snake-head (Ophiocephalus) of Africa, which 

 crawls about over the mud, sand, or grass ; and the Cuchia " Eel " 

 of India, which is quite as much at home out of the water as in it. 



The Gurnards, although they do not leave the water, are able 

 to walk over the floor of the sea by means of the first three finger- 

 like rays of the pectoral fins, which suggest the legs of a huge 

 insect. These curious processes are used sometimes as legs for 

 walking, and sometimes as fingers to stir up the sand and rake 

 over the loose stones in search of small molluscs and crustaceans 

 on which the fishes feed. The Gurnards are also remarkable for 

 the peculiar grunting noise they make, due to the pressure of the 

 air in their air-bladder. 



The " Flying Gurnards " (Dactylopterus), an allied family, use 

 their pectoral fins as wings, and take short, flying leaps out of the 

 water somewhat after the manner of the leap of a grasshopper. 

 During their passage through the air the wing-like fins are rapidly 

 vibrated, which is not the case with the Flying-fishes (Exoccetus), 

 which belong to a different group of Teleostei ; the true Flying- 

 fish uses its pectoral fins as parachutes rather than wings. 1 " Their 

 flight, as it is called, carries them 15 or 18 feet high over the water, 

 and the lines which they traverse when they enjoy full liberty 

 of motion are very low curves, and always in the direction of their 

 previous progress in the usual element of fishes. Their silvery 

 wings and blue bodies glittering beneath the rays of a tropical 

 sun afford a most beautiful spectacle when which is frequently 

 the case they rise into the air by thousands at once A and in all 

 possible directions." 



It is impossible here to notice more than one or two examples 

 of the more extraordinary fishes which frequent the tropical and 

 subtropical seas, some of which are so strange and grotesque in 

 appearance that they resemble fabulous monsters more than any- 

 thing else. Among these eccentric forms are the Porcupine Fishes 

 (Diodontida), whose skin is covered with movable spines. They 

 have the power of inflating the body so that it becomes puffed 

 out like a balloon, and erecting all the spines at the same time 

 much as a porcupine does its quills. The Sun-fishes are even 



1 S. G. Hartwig. 



