LEAF FISHES 65 



and sank gently and inertly to the bottom like 

 a yellow leaf, for which I mistook it at first. As 

 I was about to turn away from such a common- 

 place object as a drenched leaf, it righted itself 

 once more and darted away. It was subsequently 

 captured and sketched. 



Fallen leaves of various kinds are commonly 

 seen drifting about in the sea, sometimes at a 

 considerable distance offshore. The most familiar 

 examples of such drifting leaves are those of the 

 mangrove trees which fringe the borders of 

 estuaries and backwaters in the tropics. This 

 singular Leaf Fish, besides having the requisite 

 shape and colour, has also the power of assuming 

 the inertia of a dead leaf, or of feigning death 

 in the sea, thus completing the disguise. The 

 contour of its body is strengthened behind by 

 a line of dark pigment, which passes along the 

 hinder margins of the dorsal and anal fins, but 

 through the base of the caudal fin ; the latter is 

 unpigmented, hyaline and invisible under water. 

 The pectoral fins are also transparent, but the 

 elongated ventral fins are opaque, showing the 

 yellow ground colour and a dense outer border 

 conterminous with the border of the anal fin. 

 There can be no mistake as to the effective- 

 ness of this case of leaf-mimicry under water; 

 moreover, the surface of the body shows lines 

 of pigment and small spots such as are seen 

 in a decaying leaf (Fig. i). 



The three different types Phyllium, Kallima, 



E 



