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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the mouth and teeth of the fish shown on 

 page 455, certain species are ravenous 

 predatory fishes, which may sometimes 

 seize and swallow fishes much larger than 

 themselves. For instance, a specimen 

 obtained by Mr J. G. Johnson, at Ma- 

 deira, was less than 4 inches long (3.8 

 inches), but it had actually engorged a 

 fish about twice its own length (7^/^ 

 inches). The extensibility of the jaws 

 and connected parts, as well as the dilata- 

 bility of the oesophagus, stomach, and 

 integuments, enabled the captor fish to 

 accomplish this feat. So completely had 

 the captor ingested (but not digested) its 

 victim that "it was tempted to take a 

 bait," and was thus secured for ichthy- 

 ology. 



Another species of the angler are the 

 sea toads, which are inhabitants of trop- 

 ical seas (see page 454). The brilliant 

 scarlet and other colors which render the 

 sea toads so conspicuous when seen in 

 the jars of a museum collection are quite 

 in harmony in their natural home and 

 assimilate the fishes to the brilliantly 

 colored coral animals and the other or- 

 ganisms, in the midst of which they lurk 

 in wait for prey. 



Most of their lives are spent in coral 

 growths. Selecting a fitting place, such 

 as a fissure just wide enough to get into 

 and hold on to, a fish may assume an 

 oblique or vertical position, sometimes 

 looking downward, sometimes with head 

 upward. It then uses its pectoral fins to 

 obtain a good purchase on the rock, and 

 can thus remain stationary indefinitely, 

 waiting till its victims come sufiiciently 

 near to be seized. 



Closely akin to the sea toads are the 

 frog fishes, which are mostly inhabitants 

 of the "sargasso seas," or "sargasso 

 meadows," in mid-ocean. The sargasso 

 sea is an egg-shaped area in the latitude 

 of Florida, beginning some 400 miles east 

 of Jupiter, and extending thence easterly 

 for 1,700 miles to about the 39th merid- 

 ian. It is characterized by an unusual 

 quantity of seaweed, also known as "sea- 

 grape," "sea-lentil," etc., which grows 

 luxuriantly on the surface of the sea. 



Although floating on the high seas, and 

 thus at the mercy of the winds and 

 waves, nevertheless, those agents operate 

 in such a manner, in conjunction with the 

 currents, that for year after year and 

 century after century nearly the same 

 areas of the ocean are covered by this 

 peculiar plant. The sargasso meadows 

 appear to occupy the same position at 

 the present time as in the days of Co- 

 lumbus, who first described them. 



Amid the seaweed thrive most of the 

 species of swimming crabs, cuttle fishes, 

 and other fishes which are found along 

 the shores of continents and islands. 

 Flying fishes of different kinds are also 

 tenants of these fields, although they may 

 rarely show themselves in the air. All 

 these are lured and caught by the frog 

 fish. A single frog fish, whose stomach 

 contents were examined by Mobius, was 

 found to have taken in four fishes, one 

 of which, a pipe fish, over 5 inches long, 

 was coiled in the stomach ; a small cuttle 

 fish, and a small portunid crab. All these 

 were still in a recognizable condition. 



Another peculiarity of the angler fam- 

 ily is the remarkable "nest" which the 

 fish constructs to protect its eggs. 



"The eggs are discharged in a jelly- 

 like mass, which, on contact with the 

 water, become immensely distended and 

 form buoyant raft-like receptacles, which 

 float at or near the surface till the eggs 

 are hatched. The rafts are swollen to 

 an enormous size in comparison with the 

 mother fishes, those of the; common an- 

 gler sometimes reaching a; length of 36 

 feet and those of the frog fish a couple 

 of feet. 



"The e^g raft, after full expansion in 

 the water, is a soft jelly-like mass, quiv- 

 ering to the touch, but withal rather 

 tenacious, moderately uniform in the 

 width, and tapering abruptly and blunt 

 at the extremities. It is also rather thick, 

 with blunt edges. The entire mass is 

 thickly permeated with eggs, which ap- 

 pear to be in several irregular layers. 

 After some days, and when the eggs have 

 matured, the jelly probably dissolves and 

 embryos are apparently thus liberated." 



