234 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 





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GARPIKES 



Frequently called Guard-fiikei 



whilst others enjoy the 

 rather unusual distinction 

 of being able to live in 

 either fresh or salt water, 

 even when rapidly trans- 

 ferred from one to the 

 other. The small spe 

 commonly inhabiting 

 ponds and ditches can sus- 

 tain changes of this kind 

 with impunity. These 

 last arc very fenuioi.s. 

 One kept in an aquarium 

 devoured in five hours 

 seventy-four young dace 

 about a quarter of an 

 inch long. They occa- 

 sionally occur in v.ist 

 shoals, and, according to 



the naturalist Pennant, appear in the river VVelland, in Lincolnshire, once in seven years in 



amazing shoals, so that a man employed in collecting them earned four shillings a day by 



selling them at the rate of a halfpenny a bushel ! 



The salt-water species, or FlFTEEN-SPINED STICKI.KHACK, is less well known. Like its fresh- 



water relative, it is a nest-builder, and the male defends the eggs and young with great courage. 

 The TORTOISE-FISHES may serve as the representatives of the last family of this group. They 



are very remarkable fishes, being invested in a wonderful bony cuirass, formed by a modification 



of the skeleton, similar to what has taken place among the Tortoises and Turtles. The body is 



so thin that it looks as if it had been artificially compressed, and is semi-transparent. Three 



species are known from the tropical Indo-Pacific and three from other seas; besides these are 



four smaller and less perfectly armed forms, one of which, the TKL .Mrin-nsn, or HEU.I>\V.S-H>H, 



occurs rarely off the south coast of England. 



The GARI'IKE and FLYING-FISHES are both interesting, especially the latter. The garpike 



is represented by several species, easily recognised by the long, pointed jaws. These fishes 



are furthermore peculiar in 



that the bones are green, a 



colour which remains even 



after cooking, and on this 



account some object to eating 



them, supposing the unusual 



colour to indicate unsound- 



ness. The elongated jaws are 



not developed in the young 



fish, and, strangely enough. 



this character is acquired, the 



lower jaw grows faster than 



the upper. In some species 



the lower jaw remains perma- 



nently the longer ; hence they 



are known as I IAI.I -r.i:.\KS. 



The FI.YIM.-I i-iii s, or ' ' 



Fl.YIM.-Ill.kklNi.S, like the 



Fly ing-gurn a rds already r*< 



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