Ctenoid Acanthoptekes.- 



-FISHES- 



-SUKJIULLIDANS. 



123 



twice in the water, and if its descent were not rapid 

 enough, finally abandoning it. 



The time occupied in collecting building materials 

 and constructing the nest is about four hours, and 

 when all is ready the male proceeds to seek a female, 

 and, having found her, "conducts her," says Signore 

 Costa, " with many caresses and polite attentions to the 

 prepared apartment;" or as Mr. Warrington describes 

 liis motions, " darting round her with the madness of 

 delight." 



The female enters the nest by one door, and having 

 in a few minutes laid several eggs, escapes by the 

 opposite outlet, leaving the eggs exposed to the current 

 of cool water which flows through the nest. Then 

 the male establishes himself as guardian of the precious 

 deposit, not sulTcring even the female to approach it 

 again. Every fish that comes near, even though nuich 

 larger than himself, is furiously attacked; and he gives 

 battle valiantly, striking at their eyes and seizing their 

 fins with his mouth. His acute dorsal and ventral 

 spines are effective weapons in these combats, and able 

 to rip up the belly of a small fish. The constant 

 watchfulness of the male is fully needed ; for if he is 

 removed by way of exiieriment, the Sticklebacks and 

 other fish lurking in the vicinity rush with one accord 

 upon the nest, and devour the eggs in an instant of 

 time. For a whole month does the male parent pro- 

 vide for the safety of liis offspring. In the first few 

 days the openings are enlarged so as to admit a larger 

 current of water to the eggs ; and about the tenth day 

 the male employs himself in tearing down the nest and 

 transporting the material to some little distance. With 

 a lens the fry at this time may be observed in motion. 

 Round these the male guardian continually moves, 

 suffering no encroachment ; and as the young brood 

 gain strength and show an inclination to stray beyond 

 bounds, be drives them back within their precincts, 

 until they are advanced enough to provide for them- 

 selves, when both old and young disappear from the 

 place of observation. 



There are several American fishes which take an 

 equal care of their young, some of which belong to the 

 genera Catustomus, Exoglossum, Pomotls, and Piinelo- 

 clus. The species of Exoglossum are named " Stone- 

 toters," because they pile up little heaps of small 

 stones, among which they deposit their spawn. Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz describes the operations of the Pomolis, 

 or Sim-fishes, after watching them for eight successive 

 years, as follows : — 



When the breeding season approaches, a pair of 

 Sun-fishes approach the shore of the pond in which 

 they live, and, selecting a shallow gravelly spot over- 

 shadowed with pond-weed, water-lilies, or other aquatic 

 jilants, clear a space of about a foot across, rooting out 

 the plants by violent jerks of their tails, and carrying 

 away the coarser gravel in their mouths, so as to leave 

 an area of fine sand. There the female deposits Iter 

 eggs, embowered under the overhanging aquatic plants. 

 In this inclosure one of the parents keeps watch over 

 the eggs, driving off intruders — an office which is 

 shared alternately by the male and female. The 

 fierceness with which the watcher atticks an enemy, 

 and the anxiety which it manifests for the safety of its 



charge, show the strength of the parental instinct. 

 The pairs of Sun-fishes are not solitary in their selec- 

 tion of a breeding-place. Hundreds may be seen 

 along the same bank of a pond establishing nests near 

 to each other, and often separated merely by a parti- 

 tion of plants, living peaceably together, and passing 

 over one another's domiciles when they go in search 

 of food, without producing any disturbance ; but an 

 unmated fish is chased away from the nests as being 

 an unprincipled intruder. In about a week the young 

 are hatched, and the parents soon cease to take further 

 care of them. The Cat-fish [Pimdodus calus) clears 

 a space for the eggs like the Sun-fish, but the young 

 brood remain longer, after being hatched, under the 

 superiutendence of the parent fish. 



Family IV.— SURMULLIDANS {MulUdic). 

 Plate 7, fig. 38. 



This small but very natural family is distinguishable 

 from other groups of the same order, by two dorsals 

 widely separated from each other by the large, strongly- 

 ciliated, easily-detached scales of the head and body ; 

 the steep fa(8al profile ; and a pair of barbels attached 

 to the skin under the tongue, close to the symphysis of 

 the mandible, and retiring between the limbs of that 

 bone when not in use. These appendages are, how- 

 ever, wanting in the foreign genus Acmpoma. The 

 preorbitar is high and narrow ; the mouth is small, 

 with feeble teeth ; and the head is unarmed, e.xcept 

 merely by an angular point of the operculum in some 

 species ; the gill opening is wide ; and there are from 

 four to seven branchiostegals. The muco-duets of the 

 scales forming the lateral line are arborescent. The 

 stomach is bent like a siphon, the pylorus being at tlie 

 end ; and the prancreatio coeca are numerous. 



The Romans named these fishes Mulli, because they 

 are coloured like the bright red buskins worn by the 

 kings of Alba, and subsequently by various Roman 

 officials. 



Tlie goncra are — Mtillus; Vpeneichlhys (Biecker); JJpene- 

 oides (Illecker); Mulloldes (Bleelier); Ujieneus; and Acrojwtiia 

 (Sdilegi'l) 



In the present day a well-fed Surmullet {MuHiis 

 barbatus) is considered to be an excellent fish, and 

 being generally cooked with the entrails, is often called 

 the " Sea-snipe " by epicures. It was still more 

 highly prized b}' the Romans in the luxurious days of 

 the empire. Pliny says that it surpasses other fishes 

 in excellence and beauty ; that it seldom weighs more 

 than two pounds, and will not grow in a fish-pond. 

 Martial speaks of a fish of this size as a costly gift, 

 exacted from him by his mistress; and says that a 

 Surmullet of throe pounds was an object of insane 

 admiration, while the cost of one of four pounds was a 

 ruinous extravagance — Calliodorus having paid £10 

 sterling for such a fish. Seneca reports that a Sur- 

 mullet of four pounds and a half being presented to 

 Tiberius, that emperor, in an excess of economy, sent 

 it to the market. Ajiicius and Octavius bid for it 

 against one another, and the latter carried away the 

 prize at the cost of £39 of our money. Juvenal men- 



