THE SUCKING-FISH. 



suspended bait. He did not then hesitate a moment, but seized it and was captured. 

 While the shark was being hauled on board, the Pilot-fish expressed the greatest concern, 

 almost leaping out of the water in their endeavours to follow him, and swimming near the 

 surface with every demonstration of anxiety. 



These faithful little fish were observed to attach themselves to the ship, but attracted 

 little attention until some weeks afterwards, when we spoke the Thomas Grenville, East 

 Indiaman, and lowered a boat to communicate with her. One of the fish was then seen 

 to accompany the boat to and from the stranger ship ; and so devotedly did it attend 

 upon what it might have believed to be its lost shark, as to lead the officers of the Thomas 

 Grenville to remark that we had a Pilot-fish painted on the rudder of the boat. 



Their attendance upon sharks is somewhat capricious : we have seen more than five 

 associated with one shark, while many others of the latter tribe, and assembled in the 

 water at the same time, have not been accompanied by one of these fishes. They have 

 evidently nothing to dread from the voracious companion they select, but swim around, 

 and often a few inches ahead of him, as either their convenience or caprice may dictate." 



The colour of the Pilot-fish is greyish blue with a mark of silver, dark on the back, 

 and becoming paler towards the abdomen. Five bands of dark blue pass completely round 

 the body, and there are two faint blue bands, one on the head and the other on the tail. 

 The pectoral fins are clouded with blue and white. The ventral fins are nearly black. 

 The usual length of the Pilot-fish is about one foot. 



EVERY one has heard of the SUCKING-FISH, and there are few who are not acquainted 

 with the wild and fabulous tales narrated of its powers. 



This little fish was reported to adhere to the bottom of ships, and to arrest their 

 progress as suddenly and firmly as if they had struck upon a rock. The winds might 

 blow, the sails might fill, and the masts creak, but the unseen fish below could hold the 

 vessel by its single force, and confine her to the same spot as if at anchor. It is 

 wonderful how fully this fable was received, and how many years were needed to root the 

 belief out of prejudiced minds. Both scientific names refer to this so-called property, 

 echeniis signifying " shipholder," and remora meaning delay. 



That the Sucking-fish is able to adhere strongly to smooth surfaces is a well-known 

 fact, the process being accomplished by means of the curious shield or disc upon the 

 upper surface of the head and shoulders, the general shape of which can be understood by 

 reference to the engraving. This disc is composed of a number of flat bony laminae, 

 arranged parallel to each other in a manner resembling the common wooden window-blind, 

 and capable of being raised or depressed at will. It is found by anatomical investigation 

 that these laminae are formed by modifications of the spinous dorsal fin, the number of 

 laminae corresponding to that of the spines. They are moved by a series of muscles set 

 obliquely, and when the fish presses the soft edge of the disc against any smooth object 

 and then depresses the laminae, a vacuum is formed, causing the fish to adhere tightly to 

 the spot upon which the disc is placed. 



When the creature has once fixed itself it cannot be detached without much 

 difficulty, and the only method of removing it without tearing the body or disc, is to slide 

 it forwards in a direction corresponding with the set of the laminae. In the opposite 

 direction it cannot be moved, and the fish, therefore, when adhering to a moving body, 

 takes care to fix itself in such a manner that it cannot be washed off by the water through 

 which it is drawn. Even after death, or when the disc is separated from the body, this 

 curious organ can be applied to any smooth object, and will hold with tolerable firmness. 

 In order to accommodate the disc, the upper part of the skull is flattened and rather 

 widened. 



The Sucking-fish will attach itself to many moving objects, and has been found 

 adhering to the plankings of ships and boats, to turtles, to whales, and to fishes of various 

 kinds. Even the albacore, which eats the Sucking-fish whenever it can catch it, is 

 occasionally honoured by its adhesion, and in the British seas a specimen has been 

 captured while sticking to a cod-fish. The shark, however, is its favourite companion, and 

 it often happens that one of these voracious creatures is attended by quite a little train of 



