232 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



The Bl.ENNlES are fishes whose skins are soft, slimy, and quite scaleless, or at most 

 covered with very tiny and degenerate scales. The general form of the body may be seen in 

 the photograph below. They arc shore-fishes, lurking about in the crevices of rocks, among 

 seaweed, or under stones, and occurring generally along the coasts of temperate and tropical 

 regions. The species known as the SEA-CAT or WOLF-FISH is, however, a deep-water form. 



As a rule the eggs are deposited in hollow places between stones or rocks; but in the 

 BUTTER-FISH, or GUNNEL, the eggs are adhesive, and the parents roll them into a ball by 

 coiling their bodies round them. Furthermore, since the parents are frequently found, under 

 natural conditions, coiled round these masses of spawn, it appears that they adopt this method 

 of guarding their treasures. Some species bring forth their young alive. 



The largest of the family is the WOLF-FISH, whose jaws are armed with very p<meitul 

 teeth, able to crush the hardest shells, such as those of the whelk. Sea-urchins and crabs 

 also eaten. 



We pass on to a group comprising three families the BARRACUDAS, SAND-SMELT-, and 

 GREY MULLETS. 



It should be mentioned that two very distinct fishes are known as BARRACUDAS, one of 



which we have already described 

 under the name of Snoek. The 

 forms described here as barracudas 

 are large, voracious fishes living 

 in tropical and sub-tropical SIM-;. 

 and evincing a preference for the 

 coast rather than the open se.i. 

 Attaining a length of 8 feet and 

 a weight of 40 Ibs., they are a 

 source of danger to bathers. They 

 are very frequently used as ! 

 though in the West Indies such 

 food is attended with some danger, 

 as the flesh is often poi.-oin 'ii>. 

 from the fish having fed on smaller 

 poisonous lis'nes. 



The SAND-SMELTS are small 

 carnivorous species inhabiting the 

 seas of temperate and tropical 

 regions. Many enter fresh-water, 



and some have become entirely acclimatised there. Some species bear a very close resemblance 

 to the true smelt, from which, however, they may be readily distinguished by their small, 

 spinous, first back-fin. The young of at least one small group or genus of this family arc 

 remarkable for their habit of clinging together for some time after they arc hatched in dense 

 masses and almost incredible numbers. 



The GREY MULLETS are brackish-water fishes, feeding on vegetable growths and minute 

 shell-fish. They also suck up large quantities of sand into the mouth for the sake of the 

 minute organisms contained therein; much of this is passed on into the stnm.ich, which is 

 thick and muscular, like that of many birds. Altogether some seventy species of grey mullets 

 are known, the majority of which attain a weight of about 4 Ibs., but there are many which grow 

 to 10 or 12 Ibs. All are eaten, and some highly esteemed. 



The FLUTE-MOUTHS, STICKLEBACKS, and T<>KT<>ISI -1 -MU s arc three closely allied and 

 extremely interesting families. The first are really gigantic marine sticklebacks, in which the 

 jaws arc produced into a long tube. They are shore-fishes, entering brackish water, and 

 confined to sub-tropical and tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indo-1'acific. 



Of the STICKLEBACKS there are several species, some of which are entirely salt-water I; 



Hun t 



[Chanttr) Lan 



BUnr.ttt 



BLENNY 



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