GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SEA FISH 7 



the bottom, such as the rays (Rata) and weavers (Trachinus), 

 are dull of colour, while those which swim near the surface, 

 like the herring (Clupea), exhibit silvery and other bright 

 tints. There are exceptions to this rule, as to most, for the 

 dragonet {Callionymus) and red gurnard {'Trigla) are familiar 

 examples of gaudily coloured ground-dwellers. 



Anyone wishing to form some idea of the wonderful 

 variety of shape in our sea fish should visit the Natural 

 History Museum and compare, say, twelve such types as the 

 thresher-shark (yf/o/)/aj),' skate (Rata), hammerhead (Zygana), 

 sturgeon (^cipenser), chimasra {Chim<^ra), sword-fish (Xiphias), 

 plaice {Pleuronectes), conger-eel (^Conger), angler-fish {Lophius), 

 lumpsucker [Cyclopterus), sun-fish {Orthagoriscus), and sea-horse 

 {Hippocampus) ; and let him further bear in mind the fact that 

 not one of these can be said to conform to the conditions of 

 some such typical fish as the bass {Labrax). It would be no 

 very difficult matter to name a second dozen of our sea fish 

 almost as remarkable in shape as those given above, but the 

 examples chosen sufficiently illustrate the almost inexhaustible 

 resources of Nature's workshop. 



Nor do the colours of our fishes display less variety than 

 their shape. Of all British forms the opah (Lampris) and 

 one or two wrasses (Labrus) display the most brilliant and 

 fanciful colouring, and after these come the gurnards. The 

 fishmonger's shop, and to some extent also the best efibrts 

 of the taxidermist, must necessarily be an unsatisfactory guide 

 in the matter of colour. Thus, the cod and its relatives, 

 though comparatively bright-hued in life, soon fade to one- 

 toned dulness after death ; and, on the other hand, the red 

 mullet looks even brighter in the fish-market than when 

 removed from the meshes of the trammel, owing to the trick 

 by which the fishermen scrape off the large outer scales, in 

 order to intensify the colour of the fish. In one or two 

 groups of fishes the male and female differ appreciably in 

 their colouring ; in other words, colour constitutes an 



