PISCES. 147 



structed for the reception of the eggs, which are 

 watched with zealous care by the parent fish until 

 they are hatched, and, in some instances, until the 

 young are able to shift for themselves. Among 

 the Pipefishes (Syngnatktdce), the male acts as 

 nurse to the infant progeny, receiving the spawn 

 from the mother into a sort of pouch, with which 

 he is provided, and in which he carries the eggs 

 till the birth of his offspring relieves him from his 

 duties. 



Localities, &c. From the roving habits of 

 Fishes, little can be said on this score. Many 

 species, as the Mackerel and Herring tribes, ap- 

 proach the shores from deep water at certain 

 seasons, for the purpose of spawning in the shal- 

 lows. The Blennies and Gobies are generally to 

 be found in the shallows ; the Smooth Blenny, the 

 Sea Scorpion, and some other small species haunt 

 the clear rock-pools, which the receding tide leaves 

 on many of our coasts. The Weevers, the Launces, 

 and many of the Flatfishes, burrow in the sand of 

 the sea-bottom ; the Wrasses play around sub- 

 merged rocks ; and the Pipefishes haunt the waving 

 beds of green sea-grass (Zostera) that grow on 

 muddy shores. Some, as several species of the 

 Salmon family, the little Sticklebacks, the Eels, 

 and others, inhabit both the sea and rivers indif- 

 ferently, or periodically exchange the one for the 

 other. Others, as the Bonito, are truly ocean- 

 rovers, and approach our coasts rarely and acci- 

 dentally. 



Identification. The following points, set down, 

 approximately, in the order of their relative im- 

 portance, are needful to be observed in determin- 

 ing the zoological place and relations of a Fish. 

 L2 



