308 MB. E. W. L. HOI/r ON THE [AV^- 1^' 



but always rejected them. Bits of male and female, with or 

 without the shin, appeared to be equally distasteful. A smaller 

 pollack, present in the same tank, once took and retained a piece, 

 probably because its opportunities of feeding are so limited by the 

 competition of the larger fish that it cannot afford to be discrimi- 

 nating. These experiments were checked by offering bits of 

 Gobins j)(u/anelh(s at the same time. The goby appeared much 

 more palatable, most of the bits being taken and retained. A 

 number of small living Dragonets were dropped into the same tank. 

 Some reached the bottom in safety. Four were caught by the 

 pollack, which swallowed two outright, one having had the 

 preopercular spines removed. Another, with spines intact, was 

 seized and held for so long that, even if not finally swallowed, it 

 certainly could not have been violently distasteful to its captor. 

 Another was seized by the tail and struck the pollack's lip or 

 cheek with its spine and was instantly dropped. It was captured 

 by another pollack and, I think, swallowed. 



* Some small Dragonets were offered to a number of pollack, 

 about a year old and about 6 to 8 inches long. Most of them 

 escaped into crevices of the rockwork or reached the bottom. 

 One was seized and rejected, but perhaps swallowed by another 

 fish in a dark corner of the tank. Another was seized and 

 rejected, with evident manifestations of disgust, by five pollack in 

 succession. The first four got it by the head and probably pricked 

 their mouths, but the last seized it by the tail and seemed equally 

 disgusted. Another, offered immediately afterwards, was smelt by 

 most of the pollack, but taken by none. No dead individuals 

 were taken, neither was a dead Gohius minutiis, though this 

 species is relished when living. The above evidence is rather 

 conflicting. The larger pollack certainly appear to dislike bits of 

 large Dragonets, but the seat of distastefuluess is not entirely in 

 the skin. The same pollack appear, on the whole, to approve of 

 small Dragonets, while the latter seem to be distasteful to small 

 pollack. 



Pieces of large Dragonet were taken greedily and eaten by 

 Gadus luscus and G. mimdus and by Coitus buhalis. The last- 

 named fish, however, will eat most things. Bass (Morone labrax) 

 will not touch Callionymus. They are not fish-feeders. Wrasse 

 {Lahriis maculatiis and L. mixtus) either dechne to touch or at 

 once reject bits of large Callionymus. As we have seen, young 

 wrasse appear to dislike the pigment. 



Turbot seem to find nothing objectionable in Callionymus. 

 Small turbot and brill inhabit the bottom of the tank in which 

 are the larger pollack. In the course of the experiments just de- 

 scribed I noticed that the rejected morsels and such young Dragonet 

 as reached the bottom were eagerly swallowed by the turbot (and, 

 I think, brill also) as soon as they came within their sphere of 

 influence. Some experiments with large turbot in the next tank 

 have already been described. In addition I have on several 

 occasions offered these turbot a number of dead male Dragonets 



