Fishes. 



I.— FISHES. 



In enclea,\-ounng to help the rambler tin the seashore to 

 learn something about the innumerable " ciu'iosities " which 

 come across his path on the beach, or reward his search m the 

 rock-pools or among the beds of seaweed uncovered at low tide, 

 we will fancy ourselves at some spot on the South-west Coast, 

 Devonshire or Cornwall, or on the opposite side of the Channel, 

 where rocky chffs, interrupted bj' sandy beaches, offer the 

 best opportunities to the naturahst. We shall only deal with 

 the small fishes commonly found under such conditions. 

 The larger fishes which give joy to the angler, or which are 

 brought on tlie market, will be entireh? left out, as, being edible, 

 they are far better known. We must, howevei', make an 

 exception for the Wrasses, as being so intimately associated 

 with tidal rocks covered with seaweeds. 



In thus offering our services as a guide to the novice m marine 

 zoology, the first thing to do is to enable him to distinguish 

 the different kinds of fishes with which we intend to deal. 

 Avoiding, for obvious reasons, a strictly scientific classification, 

 we wll direct his attention to certain characters of the fins, 

 easj.' of appreciation, bv means of which he will readily get at 

 the name of the genus to which anj^ given fish has to be referred, 

 without further trouble than the use of an orchnary pocket-lens 

 in the case of ver^^ small specimens. Therefore, first, a few 

 words of explanation as to the terminology of the fins, assuming 

 our readers to be absolutely ignorant of the most elementary 

 rudiments of ichth^'olog}-'. 



Taking a Wrasse as an example of a more typical lish, we 

 notice two pairs of fins and three vertical fins, as shown 

 in the illustration (Fig. i). The paired fins represent the 

 limbs of higher animals, the front pair, the upper in this case, 

 termed pectoral, corresponding to the fore limbs, the other pair, 

 the ventral, or pelvic, to the hind hmbs. In the more primitive 

 types, such as a shark or dog-fish, or, higher up in the scale, 

 a trout or a herring, the ventral fins are a long way behind the 

 pectorals, as becomes their homology ; but, in the course of 

 evolution, they have gradually been shifted forwards to below 

 the pectorals, or even beyond, so as ultimately to bring the 



