Peripatetic Meditations 



darkest corners or under a stone arch in the 

 tank. When, occasionally, I completely shut 

 out the light, they became active immediately 

 and searched for food. Suddenly letting in the 

 light again, they quickly returned to their posts. 

 This simple experiment, always with the same 

 result, led me to conclude that pirate perches 

 are nocturnal. That was long ago and for 

 years I have not seen one of these fishes. That 

 which I routed from the weeds to-day, told the 

 same story. They are carnivorous and glut- 

 tons, even for fishes. I have often known them 

 to swallow a minnow, head and shoulders, and 

 patiently await the process of digestion before 

 clearing their jaws of the projecting body of 

 their victim. I saw a pirate perch, in an 

 aquarium, take secure hold of an angle-worm, 

 and while two or more inches of the body were 

 lashing wildly about the "pirate's" head, the 

 fish chased a small minnow until it cornered it. 

 Of course it escaped, but not quite unscathed. 

 The "pirate's" one idea is a full stomach, that 

 is, if fish have ideas, as we ordinarily use the 

 word. It is an open question. Certainly some 

 fishes seem to have other means of enjoyment. 

 Many of them play, if ever a kitten does. 



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