18/8.] MR. F. DAY ON FEAR AND ANGER IN FISHES. 219 



the same : ' this effect has been attributed to an escape of air from 

 the air-bladder ; but no air-bladder has been found in the Cottus, 

 which makes a similar noise.' 



" The Lesser Weaver buries itself in the loose soil at the bottom of 

 the water, leaving only its head exposed, and awaits its prey. If 

 touched, it strikes upwards or sideways ; and Pennant says it 

 directs its blows with as much judgment as a fighting-cock (Yarrell, 

 vol. i. p. 26). Fishermen assert that wounds from its anterior 

 dorsal spines are more venomous that those caused by the spines on 

 its gill-covers. 



" As regards fighting, I should suppose that, unless some portion 

 of the body is peculiarly adapted for this purpose, as the rostrum of 

 the Sword-fish, or the spine on the side of the tail in the Lancet- 

 fishes, we must chiefly look to the armature or covering of the 

 jaws for weapons of offence. 



" And this naturally leads us on to ask if, as suggested by Mr. 

 Whitmee, * the chief purpose served by fishes' spines is protec- 

 tion against the attacks of those of the class which are carnivorous.' 

 The first inquiry is, Do the carnivorous forms most abound amongst 

 Acanthopterygians or Malacopterygians ? The spiny-rayed forms 

 (speaking as a whole) have the teething far better developed than 

 the soft-rayed Carps of the fresh waters, or the Herrings of the sea, 

 the former (spiny-rayed forms) being the most carnivorous, the 

 latter (or soft-rayed fish) being preyed upon by the former, and by 

 the Elasmobranchii. 



" I observed', ' It may not be amiss to point out that the Acantho- 

 pterygian or spiny -rayed fishes appear to be most numerous in the 

 ocean (preying upon their articulated-rayed neighbours, the Clupeidee, 

 &c); but as we examine waters more inland, the Salmonidse or Cypri- 

 nidse usurp their place, these latter not being possessed of spinate, 

 but merely articulated rays. A maritime residence appears most 

 adapted for the Acanthopterygian or spiny-rayed fishes, a fresh- 

 water inland one to the Malacopterygians or spineless forms.' 



" Spinate dorsal and anal fins being much more frequent in the 

 carnivorous and voracious forms than in their weaker neighbours 

 leads me to suppose that they must have some other function than 

 protection of the fish from its enemies. One of these is probably 

 to guard the fin-membrane from injury, for which purpose spines 

 are much better adapted than rays in fast-swimming species. One 

 has only to witness how commonly the spineless anal fins of Clupeoids 

 and Siluroids are found injured in the tropics, to feel sure that much 

 of this is owiug to the absence of spinate protection. We do not 

 see the same injury existing to any thing like a similar extent in 

 Teleosteans whose fins are armed with strong spines ; but in the 

 intermediate forms, as the first dorsals of Sier-fishes (Cybium), the 

 weak spines of the fins are frequently injured. 



"Mr. Whitmee remarked that in serious attacks fish 'always 

 turned suddenly round and lashed at one another with the caudal 

 fin;' and he continued that he believed serious fighting is always 

 1 'Journal of the Linncan Society, Zoology,' vol. xiii. p. 111. 



