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 the 

 form of large raft- 

 like sheets, which 

 float on the surfece 

 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 to 30 feet long. 

 The Bull- 

 heads and Gur- 

 nards, constituting 

 the next family, are 

 characterised by the spiny armat 



Photohtj W. SacUU-Kail, F.Z.ti.\ 



[.U</7</,-i(-o.i-.bi«. 



rhoto b[f RaalwUl Tludc <L i'o.\ 



HEEL-GUKNAKD. 



The curious finger-like processes are used as organs 



BUTTEBFLY-GUENAED. 

 Tlic Lead of all gurnaids is encased in an armour of bony platen. 



ure of the head and the great size of the breast-fins. The 



former are represented in British 

 waters by four species, one of 

 which,- the JMiller's-thumb, 

 inhabits fresh-water. The 

 marine species include the Sea- 

 scoRPiON and Father-lasher. 



The Bull-heads on the 

 Indian and Australian coasts are 

 represented by the closely allied 

 Flat-heads, or Crocodile-fishes, 

 in which the head, as its name 

 implies, is much depressed, and 

 fully armed with sjjines, which 

 are highly poisonous, and cause 

 a violent irritation. These 

 fishes li\e 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 



ICItaacxri/ Lane, W.C. 



of touch as well as locomotion. 



