3 So SPINY-FINNED GROUP. 



ugly person. Fish and other prey are also attracted by the constant movement of 



the first tentacle on the head, the summit of which terminates in an expanded 



lappet; and no sooner is the unfortunate victim well within reach, than it is 



engulfed with one snap of the capacious mouth ; the erectile and backwardly- 



directed teeth preventing any chance of escape from this avemus, 



As an example of a pelagic genus of the family we select the 

 Tentacle-Fish 



tentacle-fish (Antennarias), so remarkable for their nest-buildmg 



habits. In these fishes the large head is elevated and compressed ; the cleft of 



the mouth being quite or nearly vertical, and of only moderate width. There are 



rasp-like teeth on the palate and jaws; the eyes are small and lateral; the body 



may be either naked, or covered with granules or spines, which may be modified 



into tentacles ; and the head is furnished with three tentacles very similar to those 



of the true anglers. The soft dorsal is of moderate length, and the anal short ; 



pelvic fins being present. Although chiefly tropical, these fishes are often carried 



far into the temperate seas ; and many of them have a most extensive range, being 



found alike in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Feeble swimmers, these fishes are 



not unfrequently to be found near the coast, where they conceal themselves beneath 



corals, stones, or seaweed, to which they hold fast by their arm-like pectoral fins. 



They have also been observed to hop over moist ground or slimy seaweed, and 



at times conceal themselves in the mud, after the manner of the true anglers, 



attracting their prey by the movements of the first tentacle on the head, the 



extremity of which, when in motion, much resembles a worm. When at sea, they 



have the power of inflating their bodies in the same way as the globe-fishes. It 



has been observed that one of these fishes placed in a basin containing a small 



quantity of water produced so strong a current by the passage of water through 



its jaws, and its subsequent expulsion through the gill-orifice, that a rapid rotatory 



motion resulted. "The gulf- weed,' writes Day, "assists the migration of these 



fishes ; during the winter months the prevailing winds bring to the islands of the 



Bermudas large fields as well as isolated patches of weed, on which many fishes 



find a home, and among them Antennarias, Here it makes its wonderful nest, 



suspended by means of silk-like fibres, which prove strong enough to support the 



huge bunches of eggs that hang like grape-clusters within its orbicular case ; 



and M. Vaillant has shown that each nest is made of one seaweed, the different 



twigs being brought together and made fast to each other by the fish by means 



of a pasty sort of substance provided by the animal itself," 



The Bull-Heads and Gurnards, — Family CottiDjE. 



The thirteenth family of the present section differs from all the foregoing, 

 with the exception of the genus Pseudocliromis and its allies, in the presence of 

 a bony process arising from the infraorbital ring of the skull to connect it with 

 the spine at the angle of the preopercular bone. In shape the body is more or 

 less elongate and subcylindrical ; the cleft of the mouth is transverse, and the 

 weak teeth are generally arranged in villiform bands. As a rule, there are two 

 dorsal fins, of which the spinous is less developed than the soft; both the latter 

 and the anal being elongated ; the pectorals may be provided with filamentous 



