132 REV. S. J. WHITMEE ON THE HABITS OF FISHES. [Feb. 5, 



3. On the Manifestation of Anger, Fear, and other Passions, 

 in Fishes, and on the Use of their Spines. 1 By the Rev. 

 S. J. Whitmee, C.M.Z.S. 



[Eeceived January 2, 1878.] 



Ill his remarks on the erection of the dermal appendages by 

 various animals under the excitement of anger and terror Mr. 

 Darwin (' Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals ') confines 

 himself to " three of the great Vertebrate classes," viz. mammals, 

 birds, and reptiles (p. 95). When I first read the passage referred 

 to, I tried to think of some reference to the manifestation of anger 

 by fishes in books with which I am familiar, but I failed to call any 

 to mind. And as Mr. Darwin has not brought forward any ex- 

 amples as to how fishes manifest their "emotions," I am almost 

 compelled to believe no observations have been recorded. I read, 

 too, in the article ' Ichthyology," in the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica' 

 (vol. xii. p. 221, 8th ed.), after a fanciful comparison between birds 

 and fishes, to the great disadvantage of the latter, that " the silent 

 dweller in the deep knows few attachments, expresses no language, 

 cherishes no affections, . . . the cravings of hunger seem alone 

 to exercise a frequent and influential action over his monotonous 

 movements ; " and that " by whatever scenes in nature fishes are 

 surrounded, their perceptions are probably indistinct and dull" 2 . 



Notwithstanding that so little appears to be written on the mani- 

 festation of feeling by fishes, it strikes me many persons who have 

 kept an aquarium must have noticed that they show anger quite as 

 plainly as any other animals. 



For some time past I have kept a good sized aquarium for the 

 instruction and amusement of myself and my family. My house is 

 situated on the coast, and has a belt of shallow and smooth water 

 before it, formed by the coral-reef which runs along in front of it 

 nearly a mile out at sea. This lagoon is a fiue place for fishes ; and 

 I encourage the natives to bring me any thing remarkable they obtain 

 when fishing there. I have therefore often had fishes belonging to 

 several genera together in my aquarium. Amongst other things I 

 have had opportunities of watching their quarrels, which are by no 

 means infrequent among the individuals of the same species, and 

 which are of constant occurrence between different species and genera. 

 The signs of anger in most fishes are so obvious that one of my boys, 

 between three and four years old, who is fond of making his own 

 observations in natural history, knows an angry fish as well as most 

 people know an angry bull or an angry boar. 



1 This paper was written in Samoa, in October 1875, and is giyen in its 

 original form. S. J. W., December 27, 1877. 



2 There are other remarks in the article mentioned which, I presume, will be 

 corrected in the new edition of the ' Encyclopaedia ' — such, e. </., as the statement 

 that the elegant and diversified colours of fishes are probably for the special 

 gratification of man. Unfortunately these quickly disappear when man gets 

 possession of the fish. 



