ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



969 



they reach an inch in length by the first of 

 August. 



This is distinctly a shallow-water fish, de- 

 lighting in rocky pools where the seaweed 

 grows abundantly. It also finds favorite hiding 

 places about the piles of docks. In spite of its 

 small size a considerable catch is marketed. 

 Bean states that 300,000 pounds are sold annu- 

 ally in Boston. They are taken on hand-lines 

 and in traps baited and set among the rocks. 

 The cunner is a hardy fish and has lived for 

 several years in the tanks at the Aquarium. 



THE PUGNACITY OF FISHES. 



THE fighting qualities of the various so- 

 called game fishes are well known to the 

 angler. In fact the true sportsman is 

 attracted only by those qualities. But the ter- 

 rific rushes of a tuna or the great leaps of a 

 tarpon and the temerity with which a sword- 

 fish sometimes attacks his would-be captor can 

 be readily understood when we consider the 

 pain and desperation of a fish that finds him- 

 self held fast. Self preservation is the first 

 law of nature, and such fighting is only a natu- 

 ral exhibition in the attempt to escape. The 

 males of many species of fishes become especi- 

 ally pugnacious during the breeding season, 

 often fighting desperately for the possession of 

 the female until one is overcome and driven 

 away. Many fishes are bold even to the point 

 of recklessness in defence of their nests, often 

 attacking fishes and other objects many times 

 their size. 



But fighting in self-defence or to protect the 

 young or in ante-nuptial combat, is not what we 

 wish to consider here. Many fishes fight among 

 themselves, apparently, like the knights of old, 

 from sheer love of fighting, or, it may be, from 

 want of anything better to occupy the time. 



During the years that the Aquarium has been 

 inhabited by fishes many conflicts waged by 

 the denizens of the pools and tanks have been 

 witnessed. Some species never show any pug- 

 nacious habits in confinement, but like "little 

 birds in their nests agree." in the words of the 

 old school reader. Others appear to be habitu- 

 ally quarrelsome and never satisfied unless 

 chasing each other or lying in wait to bite 

 a piece out of one of their own or some other 

 species in the same tank. The angel-fishes, 

 beautiful as they are in appearance, have per- 

 haps the most devilish disposition of all. A tank 



of angel-fishes reminds one of the notorious 

 even-tempered family who were all mad all the 

 time ! They frequently bite at each other with 

 their strong parrot-like jaws, or thrust sidewise 

 with the sharp spines on the cheek, and often 

 some member of the group is so scarred by these 

 conflicts that he must be removed from exhi- 

 bition and placed in a reserve tank behind the 

 scenes, where he may recover if not too severely 

 injured. Apparently the only way to keep them 

 from fighting would be to place each one in a 

 separate tank. 



The sergeant-major one would naturally 

 presume to be warlike, and this expectation is 

 fully realized, for two individuals, probably to 

 decide a question of rank or some affaire a" 

 honnear, will sometimes fight until nearly all 

 the scales have been abraded from one or both 

 of the combatants. The parrot-fishes also are 

 very truculent in disposition, and, being pro- 

 vided with weapons of no mean merit, they 

 sometimes inflict serious injury upon each other 

 before they can be separated. 



The giant groupers are apparently so lazy 

 and self-satisfied that one would hardly suspect 

 them of possessing any bellicose qualities. Oc- 

 casionally, however, something disturbs their 

 ordinary serenity of disposition and a Brobdig- 

 nagian duel is precipitated. The most serious al- 

 tercation among these fishes occurred some time 

 ago when two of these big groupers weighing 

 forty or fifty pounds each engaged in a lively 

 conflict in one of the wall tanks. Before the 

 attendant could separate them one of them had 

 suffered the loss of a considerable portion of the 

 gill-cover which the other had bitten off. The 

 injured specimen was placed in solitary con- 

 finement in a reserve tank where after some 

 months he recovered sufficiently to be placed on 

 exhibition again. 



The watchfulness of the attendants usually 

 prevents the fatal termination of these mis- 

 understandings, but occasionally a fatal injury 

 is inflicted. Such a case happened when two 

 large green morays engaged in a vicious en- 

 counter, during which one of the combatants 

 was disemboweled and had to be killed. These 

 eel-like fishes are extremely powerful and ac- 

 tive and coil and strike like snakes. Their 

 teeth are long, backwardly directed and firmly 

 fixed, and their bite is much feared even by 

 fishermen. Along with their ability to inflict in- 

 jury goes a perfect willingness to exercise it, 



