38 ME. F. DAT ON THE 



fathoms of water, to which the materials must have been con- 

 veyed at least thirty feet. The nest, which was of the usual 

 construction, was matted together in a hollow formed of the 

 untwisted strands of the rope, and in it were deposited the ova 

 in the usual way. It was watched over by the parent, who 

 did not appear to quit his station ; still instances have been ob- 

 served when more than one watcher was present. When the 

 guardian is compelled to retreat, owing to a receding tide, he 

 returns again with the first suitable wave ; and in three or four 

 weeks the young emerge. So intent is this fish on the object 

 over which he keeps guard, that at this time he may be easily 

 captured, but he resents all interference with the nest ; if the 

 ova are exposed, he at once repairs the breach by dragging fresh 

 materials into a position by which they are again concealed and 

 protected*. 



3NTot only will some fishes protect their nests in which 

 are deposited the ova, but forms which do not construct any 

 receptacle for their eggs have interesting modes of protectiug 

 them or removing them from localities where they may be 

 exposed to danger. The Siluroid, or scaleless, also termed 

 Sheat-fishes (Siluridce), although almost unknown in the colder 

 regions of the North, become numerous as the tropics are ap- 

 proached, some being marine forms, others restricted to the fresh 

 waters. These fishes delight in muddy localities, and seek their 

 food by means of feelers placed around the mouth, as well as by 

 means of hearing, their air-bladder forming an acoustic organ. The 

 marine and estuary genera of which the group Ariina is com- 

 posed, all deposit large eggs from 05 to 06 of an inch in diameter ; 

 and while examining the fishes along the western coast of India, I 

 found many of the males of this group with from fifteen to twenty 

 of these large eggs in their mouths. Some of these eggs were in 

 an early stage of development, others ready for hatching, while 

 one example contained a young fry hatched, but having the yelk- 

 bag still adherent. They filled the cavity of the mouth and 

 pharynx of these male fishes. Whether the male carries these 

 eggs about in his mouth until they are hatched, or merely removes 

 them from some spot when danger is imminent, of course may be 

 open to question ; but it is a significant fact that in none of the 



* Couch, Brit. Fishes, i. p. 182. M. Gerbe (Rev. et Mag. Zool. xvi. pp. 255, 

 273, 337, 1865) observes that fishes of the genus Crenilabrus build a nest of 

 seaweed ; here the ova are deposited ; both sexes assist in its construction. 



