THE LUMP-FISH. 285 



depressed, to the base of the tail. The succeeding rays rapidly diminish in length, 

 the fourth being extremely short, barely an inch in length. The pectorals are rounded 

 and triangular, the central ray being the largest. The length of the Gemmeous 

 Dragonet is about ten or eleven inches. 



More than twenty species of Dragonets are known, spread over a very large portion 

 of the globe, and inhabiting the temperate seas of the Old World, and the Indian 



(JEMMEUS DRAQONET. Calltoaymus lyn. 



Ocean from Mozambique to the Western Pacific islands. They are marine fishes, and 

 inhabit the bottom of the sea at no great distance from the shore. 



WE now come to a very small, but curious family, termed Discoboli, or Quoit-fishes, 

 because the spines of the ventral fins are modified into a flattened disc, something like 

 the quoit of the ancients. This disc has a soft, leathery margin, and enables them to 

 attach themselves to rocks or stones after the manner of the gobies. 



A very good British example of these curious fishes may be found in the LUMP- 

 SUCKER, otherwise called the LUMP-FISH, SEA-OWL, and COCK-PAIDLE, the latter name 

 being given to it on account of the elevated ridge along the back, which is covered 

 with a notched and tuberculated skin not unlike the comb of the cock. 



The sucker or disc of this fish is capable of very powerful adhesion, retaining its 

 hold with such tenacity, that on one occasion, when a Lump-fish was placed in a pail 

 containing several gallons of water, it immediately affixed itself to the bottom, and 

 held so firmly, that when grasped by the tail and lifted, it raised the vessel in which 

 it was placed, notwithstanding the combined weight of the water and pail. 



The Lump-fish is said to make a kind of home, and to hover about the spot where 

 the eggs are placed, for the purpose of guarding them from foes. When thus engaged 

 it is a brave and combative fish, permitting no other finny inhabitant of the water to 

 pass within a certain distance of its charge, and, in cases of necessity, biting fiercely 

 with its short but sharp teeth. It is said that after the young have attained some 

 little size, they attach themselves to their careful parent, who conveys the young family 

 into deep water. 



It is tolerably plentiful on the northern coasts of this country, and is frequently seen 

 in the Scotch markets, where it holds a place only second to the turbot. The male is 

 thought superior to the female, but is not so large. In the breeding season, the abdo- 



