LARVAE AND YOUNG 319 



goby and his brood. From such examples as these 

 the step to those cases in which the eggs are laid in a 

 more or less exposed situation, and merely guarded by 

 the male parent, is a very short one. 



When shore collecting, or dredging, or trawling in 

 shallow water, it is, consequently, well carefully to 

 examine crannies in rocks, the undersides of stones 

 and old shells, tins, old bottles, and any other likely 

 sites. Very frequently the secret is disclosed by the 

 discovery of the dutiful parent, and by his reluctance 

 to leave his charge. Often enough the assiduity of 

 the male in defending his charge, and sometimes even 

 his courtship, may be observed in the pool in which he 

 is found ; but matters are facilitated by removing him 

 and his brood into a tank or large shallow dish. 



Larvae. 



The newly hatched larvae of fishes are, like pelagic 

 eggs, commonly taken in tow nets, and careful observa- 

 tion is required to enable these to be connected with 

 specimens hatched in captivity from the eggs of known 

 parents, or with the older stages which gradually lead 

 to the attainment of the form and characteristics of the 

 adult fish. 



Fig. 208 is intended to show the ordinary appear- 

 ance and main characteristics of the pelagic larvae of 

 teleostean fishes. 



Young. 



The young of fishes are often very different from the 

 adult in form and colour, apparently especially so in 

 the case of pelagic fishes. Series of the young of almost 

 any species of fish are useful, both as a method of ascer- 

 taining the probable rate of growth (where the dates 



