Marvels of the Universe 



85 



strange Sea-dragon we should have to search the seas of far Austraha. It may be Uiat the 

 Sea-horses owe their wide distribution to accident ; that is to say, they have been drifted hither 

 and thither in the course of time on floating sea-weed, and getting into ocean currents have 

 journeyed far until their bit of weed has got entangled in a weedy jungle on another shore. 



But besides their shape and coloration, and many peculiar anatomical features which do not 

 come within the scope of the present article, the fishes of this strange family have quite peculiar 

 methods of guarding their young, which, unlike the voung of most fishes, are nursed ; and this, 

 too, by the male parent. In the Pipe-fish and Sea-horse the eggs are carried in a pouch under the 

 tail or embedded in the skin of the breast ; and in the Sea-dragon a groove serves the same 

 purpose. After the eggs have hatched the pouch serves as a nursery for the young, after 

 the fashion of kangaroos. 



The family to which these strange fishes belong is much larger than most people would suppose, 

 since it includes no fewer than one hundred and seventy-five species. Nor are those which 

 we have selected for special mention the only members deserving such notice, for there is 

 an Austrahan species of Pipe-fish which has adopted a quite extraordinary mode of life, 

 since it hves inside the sea-cucumber ! This, however, is not the only fish which has found 

 the interior of this animal a desirable dwelling-place ; for the curious Fierasfer has long been 

 known as addicted to this strange custom of haunting living caverns ! But that is a story 

 that must be reserved for telling on another occasion. 



I'lMohy'] [\V. anville Kent. 



A SEA DRAGON. 



This Sea Dragon is a native of Australia. It is so richly ornamented with loose and flapping ribbons of skin that it 

 reminds one much of the fearsome creature that has been adopted as the Chinese national emblem. There can be no doubt that 

 in the neighbourhood of the sea-weed jungles where it lives, theee ribbons look so exactly like the sea-weed fronds that their 

 (isHy nature is not suspected by possible enemies. Its mouth is so small that it is unable to protect itself by ordinary methods. 



