PISCES 193 



fins which act as parachutes, enabling them to soar through 

 the air nearly an eighth of a mile. 



The sea horse (Hippocampus) is a member of the pipe- 

 fish family. It is only a few inches long, and dwells in the 

 ocean. The male cares for the young in an abdominal 

 pouch. 



The codfishes number ninety species, of which Gadus 

 callarius is the most important. It reaches a length of 

 four feet. In November each mature female deposits 

 about ten millions of eggs which hatch floating on the sur- 

 face of the sea. Vast numbers of codfish are caught with 

 hooks and lines along the north Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 

 and are much valued for food both in the fresh and salted 

 state. 



The mackerels include about seventy species, all living 

 in salt water. They frequent the northern shores at the 

 spawning season in early summer when they appear in 

 large schools. At this time great numbers of the common 

 mackerel (Scomber scombrus) are taken in nets along the 

 New England coast. Those not sold fresh are packed in 

 brine. 



The sunfishes number a dozen species in the United 

 States. The green- sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), six or seven 

 inches long, is common in the small streams east of the 

 Mississippi. In early summer it forms a nest more than a 

 foot in diameter in shallow water. Coarse gravel lines the 

 margin of the concave area and near the center very fine 

 gravel is present on which the eggs are deposited. The 

 male remains over the nest, keeping it clear of dirt with 

 the tail, until the eggs, of wliich there are several thousand, 

 hatch. 



