The Mariposas ced 
might be called the dorsal and anal “plumes” 
extending beyond the tail with graceful sweep, 
making the fish a charming object in the gardens 
of the sea. It attains the length of two feet and 
is often seen, its curious face peeping from some 
crevice in the coral, from which it can be lured 
with crayfish bait. The young of nearly all 
these angel-fishes differ so in appearance from 
the adults that they would hardly be suspected 
as relatives, and often are far more beautiful. 
In the Southern California waters is found a 
form known as the golden angel-fish. The adult 
is a rich golden yellow with no break; but 
the young, which I have kept alive of all ages, 
present a singular contrast to them and are 
thought by the fishermen to be an entirely differ- 
ent fish, and are called “electric” fishes from the 
fact that the blue tints which mark them are so 
vivid that they appear to flash with an iridescence, 
or like an electric spark. The very young are 
blue over the entire surface, but as they grow 
this brilliant and beautiful color seems to give 
way and they become spotted, then striped, then 
faintly tipped with blue, finally losing it entirely 
to become golden angel-fishes in all the term 
implies. 
