236 



ZOOLOGY 



rapacious habits, are brilliantly colored, and build nests in 

 the sand, which both male and female watch over and 

 defend with courage. Some species 

 living in the Great Lakes are known 

 as black bass or rock bass. The 

 small New England species, with the 

 brilliant red edge to the operculum, 

 is called pumpkin-seed. 



The toadfishes (Fig. 216) are 

 represented in our faunas by a 

 common species which lives under 

 stones in harbors and attaches its 

 eggs to the under side of stones. It 

 is a vigorous fighter. 



The sculpin (Fig. 217) is closely 

 related to the toadfish. Like the 

 latter it has a broad head and nearly 

 scaleless body. The pectorals are 

 large, and the two dorsals extend 

 along the greater part of the back. 

 Allied to the foregoing is the rock eel (Fig. 218), which 

 is sometimes brought up in the seine from a depth of 8 to 

 10 fathoms. 



FIG. 216. Batrachus tau, 

 the toadfish. Dorsal 

 view. Two-thirds nat. 

 size. Photo, by W. H. 

 C. P. 



FIG. 217. Acanthocottus, the little sculpin. Two-thirds nat. size. Photo, 

 by W. H. C. P. 



The silversides are especially abundant along our At- 

 lantic coast. They have an elongated, somewhat com- 



