144 



VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



"eels" of the Catosteomi, for they are much Uke greatly attenuated 

 Sea-horses. 



The breeding habits of all members of the sub-order are peculiar. 



Fig. 81. — Gaslerost-ens acaleatus. xl. (From Boulenger, after Goode.) 



Ill the case of the Stickle-baeks the male builds a nest out of green 

 grasses and kindred materials, leaving a front and a rear entrance. 

 When the nest is complete he goes a-wooing and 

 induces a female to enter his nest and lay her 

 eggs there. As soon as she leaves by the back 

 door he enters bj^ the front and fertilizes the 

 eggs. Usually several other females are em- 

 ployed in the same way until the nest is filled 

 with a sticky mass of eggs. He then watches 

 over the nest until the eggs are all hatched. Sea- 

 horses carry to a higher degree of specialization 

 this paternal solicitude for the welfare of off- 

 spring, for, instead of building a nest and guard- 

 ing the eggs, the male uses a part of his tjody, 

 a brood-]-)Ouch on the abdomen, as a nest. Ac- 

 cording to Jortlan, the female lays her eggs on 

 the sea-bottom, and the male, after inseminat- 

 ing them, transfers them to the brood-pouch and 

 carries them about until they are hatched, thus 

 making of himself an ammated incubator. 

 Some of the Sea-horses are pro^^de^l with an 

 t-hiboratc camouflage in tlie form of leaf-like 

 processes (Fig. 83) colored like sea-weed and are practically invis- 

 al)le in tlu^ir native haunts. The Sea-moth, another member of the 

 Catosteomi, is almost as fantastic as the Sea-horses. It is covered 



Fiti. 82. — Hippo- 

 c a m pa s gutloltiliis. 

 Male, showing brood- 

 pouch (mp). a, anus; 

 b. a, branchial aper- 

 ture. (From Boulen- 

 ger.) 



