476 



Marvels of the Universe 



extinct, but a closely allied living form was dredged bj- the Challenger from a depth of nearly 

 three miles in the North Atlantic. Our Common Sea-Urchin is found as a fossil in the Coralline 

 Crag beds of the Pliocene Period. Other forms in plenty are found in the Greensand, the 

 Carboniferous Limestone, the Oolite and the Devonian rocks. 



Truly, we may say that our despised Sea-Urchin is a box of marvels, both within and without. 



THE TARPON 



BY W. P. PYCRAFT. F.Z.S., A.L.S., Etc. 



The Tarpon by common consent occupies a very conspicuous position among living fishes. In the 

 first place, he is of extremely ancient lineage, preserving in his person many tokens of this fact : 



4 



Photo hii-] 



rkable 



THE TARPON. 



jumping feats of the Tarpon, especially when it is remembered that the creature is some 

 seven feet in length and exceeds two hundred pounds in weight. 



though these must be sought for, if not " with forks and hope," at any rate, with the anatomist's 

 knife. On this account the ichthyologist makes much of him. In the second place, he displays a 

 huge bulk and prodigious agility, and may be caught with rod and line by those who are strong 

 enough to hold him, and thence he is held in high honour among fishermen. 



Most of us must deem ourselves fortunate if we succeed in finding a specimen in some museum, 

 since to meet with the Tarpon alive one would have to cross the " herring-pond " and make for the 

 south-eastern coasts of North America, whence it could be followed southwards to the West Indies 

 and Brazil. For choice the Tarpon fishers select Florida. Though strictly speaking a " sea-fish," 

 and, as it were, hugging the shore, it frequently ascends rivers, and even enters lakes far inland, 

 drawn thither in the chase of the mullet, its favourite food. At times the Tarpon behaves after a 

 very extraordinary fashion, leaping high into the air, and descending again with a resounding splash, 

 the body bent like a bow and the great gill-covers wide open, revealing the crimson gills. Why 



