BULL-HEADS AND GURNARDS 



627 



means of their 

 arm-like fins. Only 

 one species occurs 

 in British waters. 

 Its method of 

 spawning is remark- 

 able, in that the 

 eggs are laid in tlie 

 form of large raft- 

 h'ke sheets, which 

 float on the surface 

 of the sea. The 

 number of eggs laid 

 by a single fish has 

 been computed to 

 be 1,345,000. A \ 



single sheet of 

 spawn may measure 

 from 2 to 3 feet 

 in breadth and from 



25 tu 30 feet long. " m«;,;;^ 



The Bull- 

 heads and Gl;r- 

 NAR I )S, constituting 

 the ne.Kt family, are 

 characterised by the spiny armature of the head and the 





BUTTERFLY 



The head of all gurnards h encau 



rhito b) Riinh„ld rhUl, &• Co.] IChancir) Lam, If'.C. 



REEL-GURNARD 



Tfie curious fnger-like proceisei are used as organs of touch as well as locomotion 



IMil/orJ-on-Sta 



-GURNARD 



d ni an armour oj honf plates 



great size of tlie breast-fins. The 

 former are represented in British 

 waters b\' four species, one of 

 which, the MlLLEk's-TIIUMB, 

 inhabits fresh-water. The 

 marine species include the Sea- 

 scoRPiON and Father-lasmer. 

 The Bull-heads on the 

 Indian and Australian coasts are 

 represented by the closely allied 

 Fl.\t-heads, or CROCOniLE- 

 EISHES, in which the head, as its 

 name implies, is much depressed, 

 and fully armed with spines, 

 which are highl)' poisonous, and 

 cause a violent irritation. These 

 fishes live in shallow water, 

 lying on the bottom, with which 

 their colours harmonise so com- 

 pletely that they are practically 

 invisible. The very large ventral 

 fins — those seen in the photo- 

 graph immediately behind the 

 breast-fins — are of great use in 

 locomotion. 



The Gurnards are well- 

 known fishes, common on the 



