logo BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



disposition and some of bad, and, moreover, that given individuals are even 



subject to moods, as incidents related below will show. 



Toadfishes that have been teased always snap viciously at everything 



near them which moves. A 9-inch specimen after such treatment clinched his 



teeth so tightly on a bit of oyster shell that he was by it lifted out of the water 



and into a bucket. Ayres (1842) records a similar experience in the following 



words : 



One which I caught the last summer and kept for some time would snap fiercely 

 at the finger or a stick held toward him and would sometimes allow himself to be lifted 

 out of the water before he would loose his hold. 



I have several times been bitten by these fish so that the blood came 

 slightly; but the teeth are not sharp enough to draw blood ordinarily. Toadfish 

 never hold on when they bite, but snap and let go. Though very sluggish, 

 in biting they move faster than the hand and almost faster than the eye. 



Some of the toadfish always remained vicious, others, after being in cap- 

 tivity awhile and fed by hand, became quite tame, some so much so that I could 

 handle them with impunity. Those guarding the nests were more apt to bite 

 than the nonguardians. If the nest, e. g., the shell with the affixed eggs, was 

 taken from the aquarium, the fish was apt to become restless, and if the hand 

 was put in the aquarium, he was likely to snap viciously at it. I have a note 

 of a particular case in which this happened, but immediately thereafter the 

 fish let himself be taken up in the naked hand and transferred to another 

 aquarium. Another fish kept for some time in a tank 3^ by 7^ feet became so 

 tame that he allowed me to handle him freely, to carry him in my naked hands 

 to the camera 40 feet away, and to adjust him under it. 



While these examples are specimens of the conduct of the fish in general, 



it is necessary to say that some were vicious, always snapped if they got a 



chance, and if not, always showed their teeth ready to bite if one came near. 



Goode (1884) formed a very favorable opinion of the fish, for he says: 



Although it is armed with by no means insignificant spines, which are capable of 

 inflicting serious cuts, when touched they show no disposition to bite, but erect their 

 opercular spines in a very threatening manner. 



Feeding in captivity. — Nowhere do the varying dispositions of these fish 

 show more plainly than when they are being fed. Considerable numbers of 

 them were kept, and it was necessary to feed them when one could, for, in cap- 

 tivity, because of their inactivity, they mostly feed sparingly and at irregular 

 intervals. Some, however, fed eagerly, swimming out from their retreats when 

 oysters or bits of fish were thrown into the tank. For those not so tame a dif- 

 ferent method had to be pursued or some would probably have starved. These 

 would snap a piece of fish held before their mouths in a pair of forceps. Some, 

 however, could only be induced to eat by rapping them over the nose with the 



