THE FLYING-FISH. 
165 
Succeeding them are the suckers (family Catostomidai) of 
which Catostomus teres is an example. 
The blind fish of the Mammoth and other caves, and of 
adjoining wells connecting with subterranean streams, are 
remarkable for the rudimentary state of the eyes, and con- 
sequent loss of color. There are but two species, the more 
common and larger being Amilyopsis spelmiis; this species 
is viviparous. Representing the family Tlmlridm is the 
mud-minnow {Melaymra limi, Fig. 208). 
The flying-fish represent another family. Their pectoral 
fins are very broad and large. They dart from the water 
with great speed without reference to the course of the wind 
and waves. They are said to make slight flying motions 
Fio. 208.— Mud-Minnow. 
with their pectoral and ventral fins, very rapid vibrations 
being seen in the outstretched pectoral fins. They usually 
fly farther against the wind than with it, or if their track 
and the direction of the wind form an angle. Most flying- 
fish which fly against or with the wind continue in their 
whole course of flight in the same direction in which they 
come out of the water. If in strong winds they fly against 
the course of the waves, then they fly a little higher; some- 
times they cut with the tail into the crest of the waves. 
Only such flying-fish rise to a considerable height (at the 
highest, by chance, five metres above the surface of the 
sea) whose course in the air becomes obstructed by a vessel. 
In the daytime flying-fish seldom fall on the deck of the 
ship, but mostly in the night; never in a calm, but only 
when the wind blows. 
