THE GURNARDS, BULLHEADS, AND WEE VERS 153 



anglers catch many on sandy ground; whereas in Australia 

 diagrams and descriptions of the " Fortescue " are posted on the 

 piers and quays by the local angling societies. 



The Lesser Weever (7". viper a) grows to only 7 or 

 8 in., is paler in colour than the larger species, and has 

 a black band on the caudal fin. It is more dangerous than the 

 other on account of its smaller size, for it can lurk in the 

 smallest patch of seaweed in the nets, and the unsuspecting 

 fisherman grasps the dangerous spines in his hand in his effort 

 to throw away the weed and debris. In some of the Scotch 

 isles the lesser weever and sand-eel are regarded respectively as 

 the male and female of the same species, a belief for which it 

 would be difficult to find any basis. These totally unaccount- 

 able beliefs on the part of some of our fishermen are probably 

 derived from very early superstitions. Such, for instance, are 

 the beliefs that shrimps are young flat-fishes, and that flounders, 

 like Surinam water-toads, carry their eggs embedded in their 

 back. 



The spawning of the lesser weever was studied by the late 

 Mr. Brook,* of Huddersfield, and he found the weevers spawn 

 in an aquarium in very early morning (between i and 5 a.m.) 

 in June. The eggs are of the buoyant kind ; and the larvae, 

 which hatch out in from nine to eleven days, differ from those 

 of other teleostean fishes in having the pelvic fins distinct 

 before leaving the egg. The egg itself is pearly white and 

 translucent, and has from twenty to thirty small oil-globules. 

 These make it extremely buoyant, and even the larva floats, 

 for some hours after hatching, on its back. 



The food of the weevers probably consists in great part of 

 worms and small crustaceans, but from the upward direction of 

 the mouth and eyes, it seems probable that there are times at 

 which these fishes simply lie on the sea bed with their eyes and 

 mouth open and receive their share of the constant supplies of 

 food that must be raining down from the disturbed surface waters. 

 * See Journ. Linn. Soc, 1885, Vol. XVIII., p. 274. 



