180 LOWER VERTEBRATES 



extend from the middle of November to the middle of January. " Some of the fisher- 

 men say that they go on the mud-flats and oyster beds at the mouth of the river to 

 deposit their eggs. What becomes of them after this no one seems to know, but it 

 is probable that they spread themselves over the whole surface of water-covered 

 country in such a manner as not to be perceptible to the fisherman, who makes no 

 effort at this time to secure the spent, lean fish. Many of them jsrobably find their way 

 to the lakes, and others remain wherever they find good feeding ground, gathering 

 flesh and recruiting strength for the great strain of the next spawning season." 



Professor Goode informs us that the fishermen recognize " three distinct periods of 

 schooling and separate runs of mullet. To what extent these are founded on tradi- 

 tion, or upon the necessity of change in the size of the mesh of their nets, it is impos- 

 sible to say. The ' June mullet ' average about five to the pound ; the ' fat mullet,' 

 which are taken from August 20 to October 1, weigh about two pounds ; these have, 

 the fishermen say, a ' roe of fat ' on each side as thick as a man's thumb. The ' roe mul- 

 let' weigh about two and a half pounds, and are caught in November and until 

 Christmas. Between the seasons of ' fat mullet ' and ' roe mullet,' there is an inter- 

 mission of two or three weeks in the fishing." Professor Goode hazards the suggestion 

 that " the 'fat mullet' of September are the breeding fish of November, with roes in 

 an immature state, the ova not having become fully differentiated." 



The largest fish appear rarely to exceed six pounds, but one wae reported to Mr. 

 Goode that weighed over seven pounds, and his informant had heard of one weighing 

 fourteen pounds, and another which measured about twenty-nine inches in length. 



Mullets, as a rule, feed on the bottom in still shoal water. They swim head down- 

 ward, taking from time to time mouthfuls of earth which is partially culled over in 

 the mouth. The microscopical particles of animal or vegetable matter are sifted out 

 and retained, while the refuse is expelled. 



In some of their attitudes, mullets are claimed, by Mr. Stearns, to resemble barn- 

 yard fowls feeding together ; when a fish finds a spot rich in favored food, those near 

 at once recognize the fact and flock around it, in the manner characteristic of poultry. 

 They are said to eat little compared with other fishes of corresponding size, but this 

 information we may regard as requiring confirmation. Their assimilative and diges- 

 tive apparatus is curiously modified in relation to the food and the manner of taking 

 it, and the pharyngeal armature exercises the function of a filter. The sand or mud 

 taken in by the feeder is passed for some time between the pharyngeal bones, and the 

 roughest and most indigestible portions are rejected and cast from the mouth. The 

 stomach itself reminds one somewhat of a fowl's gizzard, and the entire intestinal 

 canal is very much elongated, being as much as six or seven times as long as the fish 

 itself, and makes a great number of circumvolutions. 



There are certain fishes, living in the fresh waters of southern and eastern Asia, 

 and especially in the East Indies, which are too interesting to be entirely passed over, 

 and which it will be most convenient to notice here. They constitute a family named 

 OpHiocEPHALiDiE, and the species are quite commonly known in the East Indies as 

 walking-fishes, and in China as living-fishes, or words signifying such in the vernacular 

 of the countries referred to. By Professor Cope they have been referred to the Perce- 

 soces, but they exhibit fundamental differences from the other fishes of that division, 

 and their true relations are therefore in doubt. The body is elongated, and in front 

 subcylindrical, the scales moderate in size, and the head is somewhat snake-like, and 

 covered above with large, shield-like scales (whence the name Ophiocephalus, or snake- 



