CHESIL BKACH FISH. 169 



a basin, one's finger, or anything else. Wood says that it uses its 

 sucker in ascending rivers. It makes a dart up the river at a stone, 

 sticks to it, and rests for a short time, then makes another dart, and 

 so on. 



Yarrell gives a most interesting account of the construction of 

 the nest of the lamprey, which is very like the lampern in shape, 

 but rather larger, and mottled on the hack. He says, quoting Sir 

 William Jardine (Yar. " Br. Fish," 1836, vol. ii., p. 451): "They 

 are not furnished with any elongation of the jaw afforded to most 

 of our freshwater fish to form the receiving furrows at this im- 

 portant season ; but the want is supplied by their sucker-like mouth, 

 by which they individually remove each stone. Their power is 

 immense. Stones of a very large size are transported, and a large 

 furrow is soon formed " (to receive the eggs). Couch says that the 

 lampern makes a nest in a similar way, but that several unite to 

 form a joint spawning bed. Yarrell says (p. 454) that he believes 

 that the lampern generally remains all the year in the river and 

 does not visit the sea ; but this specimen was taken off the Chesil 

 Beach, not near the mouth of any river. 



The last fish is the great pipefish (Syngnathtis acus)^ which I 

 have not seen alive, but only know from having picked up a few 

 dried specimens on the Chesil Beach. Their shape is very curious, 

 like that of a thin eel about a foot long, with a long tubular mouth. 

 Their movements in a rock pool are said to be most graceful, and 

 they are also said to use their long noses for poking about in the 

 crevices of the rocks for food. 



Yarrell says (ii., 329), after describing the male fish, which has a 

 pouch underneath near the tail : " M. Risso notices the great 

 attachment of the adult pipefish to their young, and this pouch 

 probably serves as a place of shelter to which the young ones 

 retreat in case of danger. I have been assured by fishermen that 

 if the young were shaken out of the pouch into the water over the 

 side of the boat they did not swim away, but when the parent fish 

 was held in the water in a favourable position the young would 

 again enter the pouch." 



