50 FAMILY PERCID.E ; PERCH, BASSE. 



The Sticklebacks are also interesting from the care taken by the 

 parents of their eggs and young ; the former are deposited in a 

 sort of nest made of fragments of vegetable matter, which serve 

 as a habitation for the young for some time. The nest is made 

 by the Male fish, which also watches over the safety of his pro- 

 geny, and boldly attacks all intruders. 



609. The principal and most typical family of this group is 

 that of the PERCID^E, or Perches^ in which the body is more or 

 less oblong, and covered with hard rough scales ; and the oper- 

 cula and preopercula are toothed or spinous. The ventral fins 

 are placed on the breast or throat. The branchiostegal rays are 

 generally seven. Of this family our common Perch is a well- 

 known example. The Perch is one of our commonest fresh- 

 water Fishes, abounding in rivers, lakes, and ponds, especially 

 such as are clear, lurking under the banks, and in other quiet 

 situations. It is spread throughout the whole of temperate 

 Europe, and is even found in Lapland ; other species are found 

 in America, and in the tropical parts of the Old World. The 

 food of the Perch consists of insects, worms, and small fishes, 

 which it devours with great voracity ; and it may be rendered 

 sufficiently tame to take these from the hand. Like the Carp, 

 it is very tenacious of life ; and will live for many hours if 

 packed in wet moss, and occasionally refreshed with water. 

 The "Basse is a marine Fish, nearly allied to the Perch, in its 

 general structure ; it is found on the whole line of our southern 

 coast ; and associates in shoals, which at the spawning time fre- 

 quent the mouths of rivers, and even advance up the stream to 

 a considerable distance. It will not only live but thrive in fresh- 

 water, if well supplied with food ; which, in its natural haunts, 

 consists of small fishes and crustaceans. In the Polynemi, the 

 ventral fins are placed a little behind the pectorals, and the latter 

 have their rays produced into long filaments, which hang loosely 

 on each side of the body, and are sometimes prolonged to twice 

 its length, giving the Fish a very beautiful appearance. The 

 Fishes of this genus are found in the seas of tropical climates ; 

 they are usually very brilliant in their colours, and are regarded 

 as most delicious articles of food. The Mango Fish of the Ganges 



