310 ME. E. W. L. HOLT ON THE [^-pr. 19, 



take the Callionymus — also some gravel. The latter was soon 

 ejected, aud the Dragonet swallowed without any difBculty. 



According to my experience turbot, under natural conditions, 

 feed entirely on fish, chiefly Clupcoids and sand-eels, and Cephalo- 

 pods. In the tauks they are attracted by moving objects, and do 

 not (except in the above instance) pause to smell their food. The 

 experiments which I have described seem to show that the adult 

 male Callionymus enjoys no immunity on account of the offensive 

 properties, whether of taste or smell, of his person in so far as the 

 turbot is concerned. 



In the aquarium the yellow of the fins of some of the large 

 male Dragouets had faded by the first week in April to a dull 

 ochreous brown, the brilliant yellow of the body having 

 disappeared long before. Nevertheless these fish still erected 

 their fins on being menaced with a net quite as freely as during 

 the season of brilliance, but required great provocation to induce 

 intensification of the blue bauds. This suggests that although the 

 elements of the blue coloration are in great part retained after 

 the breeding-season, the willingness to utilize them diminishes. 



Under natural conditions the Dragonet is a frequent victim 

 to the cod (]M' Intosh) ; I have myself recorded it from the 

 stomachs of this fish and of the turbot and Raia fullonica. My 

 colleague Mr. Garstang has found it (as noted by Poulton, loc. cit. 

 p. 166) in the stomachs of red gnrnnrds (Trir/la pini). In this last 

 case the victims were small individuals only. The long rough dab 

 (Pleuroncctes platessokles) also takes Dragonets (Eamsay Smith). 

 During the breeding-season of this year I have often seen full- 

 grown males among the refuse on the Plymouth quay from the 

 stomachs of fish, chiefly anglei's, and, I think, ling. In all probability 

 the large tub-gurnards (T.Mrundo) which abound on the breeding- 

 grounds at this season, and are to some extent fish-feeders, may 

 be also reckoned among the enemies of the Dragonet. I cannot 

 speak from personal observation as to the feeding-habits of the 

 red gurnard. The grey gurnard (T. r/urnardus) makes great use 

 of its sensory pectoral rays in searching for food S and protective 

 coloration would not be an efficient defence against a fish of such 

 a feeding-habit. 



Tub-gurnard hunt both by sight and touch, but in experiments 

 which I made I could get no evidence as to the palatability of 

 Callionymus, since on that occasion our aquarium specimens 

 would not even interest themselves in worms, usually a favourite 

 food. Cod hunt by sight (Bateson, loc. cit. p. 241), but a blind 

 cod, as I have had the opportunity of observing, can detect the 

 presence of food dropped into the tank and find it on the bottom. 

 Indeed this fish must be largely dependent on senses other than 

 that of sight at the great depths (over 100 fathoms) in which it 

 commonly occurs in northern latitudes ^. It is an indiscriminate 



1 Cf. Bateson (Joum. M. B. A., n. s., i. p. 248), whose remarks appear to 

 deal with T. pint and another species. 



» Cf. Holt and Calderwood, Sc. Trans. E. Dub. Soc. ser. 2, v. 1895, p. 429. 



