The Mariposas 357 



might be called the dorsal and anal " plumes " 

 extending beyond the tail with graceful sweep, 

 making the fish a charming object in the gardens 

 of the sea. It attains the length of two feet and 

 is often seen, its curious face peeping from some 

 crevice in the coral, from which it can be lured 

 with crayfish bait. The young of nearly all 

 these angel-fishes differ so in appearance from 

 the adults that they would hardly be suspected 

 as relatives, and often are far more beautiful. 

 In the Southern California waters is found a 

 form known as the golden angel-fish. The adult 

 is a rich golden yellow with no break; but 

 the young, which I have kept alive of all ages, 

 present a singular contrast to them and are 

 thought by the fishermen to be an entirely differ- 

 ent fish, and are called " electric " fishes from the 

 fact that the blue tints which mark them are so 

 vivid that they appear to flash with an iridescence, 

 or like an electric spark. The very young are 

 blue over the entire surface, but as they grow 

 this brilliant and beautiful color seems to give 

 way and they become spotted, then striped, then 

 faintly tipped with blue, finally losing it entirely 

 to become golden angel-fishes in all the term 

 implies. 



