630 



The Living Animals of the World 



soft, slimy, and quite scaleless, or at most 



The BLENNIES are fishes -^-^/l^j %^^ general form of" the body may be seen m 

 covered with very tmy and degeneiate scale, /^^e ene . 



:^::^^ °;.rte « T C 1 rk^-c^r or Wo..-Jn is, however, a deep-water form. 

 ^Ts'a mle he e.ffs are deposited in hollow places between stones or rocks ; but m the 

 As a lule the e^g. i ^^hesive, and the parents roll them into a ball by 



the parents are frequently found, under 



Butter-fish, or Gunnel, the eggs are 



:S ::iStU;rtr i. "~rS - if appe.. tl.t tl^y adopt t^s method 



teetl, lie to crush the hardest shells, such as those of the whelk. Sea-urchms and crabs are 



"'" We'".ass on to a group comprising three families-the Barracudas, Sand-smelts, and 



^""VSr'be mentioned that two very distinct fishes are known as Barracudas, one of 

 ^^ ^"'^'■"^ which we have already described 



under the name of Snoek. The 

 forms described here as barracudas 

 are large, voracious fishes living 

 in tropical and sub-tropical seas, 

 and evincing a preference for the 

 coast rather than the open sea. 

 Attaining a length of 8 feet and 

 a weight of 40 lbs., they are a 

 source of danger to bathers. They 

 are very frequently used as food, 

 though in the West Indies such 

 food is attended with some danger, 

 as the flesh is often poisonous, 

 from the fish having fed on smaller 

 poisonous fishes. 



The Sand-smelts are small 

 carnivorous species inhabiting the 

 seas of temperate and tropical 

 regions. ]\Iany enter fresh-water, 

 and some have become entirely acclimatised there. Some species bear a very close resemblance 

 to the true smelt, from which, however, they may be readily distinguished by their small, 

 spinous, first back-fin. The young of at least one small group or genus of this family are 

 remarkable for their habit of clinging together for some time after they are hatched in dense 

 masses and almost incredible numbers. 



The Grey Mullets are brackish-water fishes, feeding on vegetable growths and minute 

 shell-fish. They also suck up large quantities of sand into the mouth for the sake of the 

 minute organisms contained therein ; much of this is passed on into the stomach, which is 

 thick and muscular, like that of many birds. Altogether some seventy species of grey mullets are 

 known, the majority of which attain a weight of about 4 lbs., but there are many which grow 

 to 10 or 12 lbs. All are eaten, and some highly esteemed. 



The Flute-mouths, Sticklebacks, and Tortoise-fishes are three closely allied and extremely 

 interesting families. The first are really gigantic marine sticklebacks, in wldch the jaws are 

 produced into a long tube. They are shore-fishes, entering brackish water, and confined to 

 sub-tropical and tropical parts of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. 



Of the Sticklebacks tliere are several species, some of which are entirely salt-water fishes, 



FIwlo btj RcialiOld ThiOx ii- Co.] 



l^Clianccry lane, JI'.C. 



BLENNY. 

 Blennies have soft, shiny, scaleless skins. 



