SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
the latter consisting almost entirely of the above- 
mentioned spinous process, and the former resembling 
a scalene triangle, with its articulation with the hyo- 
mandibular bone at the obtuse angle, and with the 
suboperculum, which is large and far more like the 
ordinary operculum in shape, attached to the longest 
side. The suboperculum thus forms the entire hind 
margin of the gill-cover. 
The Gemmeous Dragonet occurs along the whole 
west coast of Europe, from the south of Spain" as far 
north at least as the neighbourhood of Trondhjem. It 
also enters the Sound, where it was observed in 1743 
by Linnteus. It is, however, very rare there, of some- 
what more frequent occurrence off Kullen, and still 
more common on the coasts of Bohuslan and Norway. 
It is nowhere found, however, in large numbers, only 
solitary individuals being taken during the fishery for 
some other species, notably the Herring. Not a single 
exception to this rule has been observed even during 
the spawning-season, whence it seems highly probable 
that this fish always lives alone or in pairs. The entire 
form of the body shows that it is a bottom-fish of 
sluggish temperament and slow in its movements; and 
the knowledge we possess of its manner of life, con- 
firms this impression. It prefers deep water — the 
Royal Museum has obtained from the fishermen on the 
Jutland Reef a female 168 mm. long, taken at a depth 
of between 100 and 200 fathoms — and probably a 
soft bottom. It is usually only during the spawning- 
season, which occurs in November and December, that 
it approaches the shore, and it is most often taken at 
this period. In Sweden the females are much rarer 
than the males * 6 . 
Several inductions drawn partly from its manner 
of life and partly from its structure, lead us to believe 
that this fish is monogamous. Saville-Kent c , who 
had witnessed the operation of spawning in an aqua- 
rium, writes as follows: “At such times the male, re- 
splendent in his bridal livery, swims leisurely round 
the female, who is reclining on the sand, his opercula 
abnormally distended, his glittering dorsal fin erect, 
and his every effort being concentrated upon the en- 
deavour to attract the attention and fascinate the af- 
fections of his future mate, much after that manner 
of courting commonly pursued by the male birds of 
the Pheasant family and Callinacete usually termed 
“strewing”. The female, at first indifferent, becomes 
at length evidently dazzled by his resplendent attire 
and the persistency of his wooing, she rises to meet 
him, the pair ■ — so far as such a course is practicable 
with fishes — rush into each other’s arms, and, with 
their ventral areas closely applied, ascend perpendicu- 
larly towards the surface of the water. In connection 
with these manoeuvres, it may safely be predicated that 
the ova are extruded and fertilised, but in the limited 
depth of water of an aquarium tank, the matrimonial 
tour cannot, apparently, lie sufficiently prolonged to 
assure the consummation of this act; the fish after 
reaching the surface being projected by their previously 
gained impetus slightly above the water, when, falling 
apart, they sink slowly to the bottom, and the process 
after short intervals is repeated.” 
The Dragonets are extraordinarily tenacious of life 
in comparison with other salt-water fishes, and can pre- 
serve life for lengthy periods out of the water. Their 
closely covered gill-openings, which help the gills to 
retain their moisture, and protect them against the 
effects of immediate contact with the atmosphere, are 
especially conducive to this result. In spite of its 
phlegmatic temperament the Dragonet is by no means 
clumsy in its movements. “In its resting-place on the 
bottom,” says CouciG, “the size and position of its 
ventral fins afford it support, while, by a very slight 
motion in them, it is able to raise itself in an instant 
for escape, or to seize any object it wishes to devour.” 
Of the females and young males, which, it is stated, 
sometimes seek shelter by burying themselves in the 
sand at the bottom", Couch remarks, according to Yar- 
e ell/: “They keep at the bottom, among sand or stones, 
and never rise but to pass from one station to another, 
which is done with great suddenness, and rapidity. They 
possess great quickness of sight, and dart with swift- 
ness when alarmed, though not to a great distance; and 
I have seen the Sordid Skulpin repeatedly mount after 
“ Steindachner, Stzber. K. K. Akad. Wiss. Wien, LVII (1868), I, p. 416. 
6 It does not seem to occur in the Mediterranean. Cf. Ninni, Atti 1st. Venet., ser. 5, tom. 4, p. 1049. 
c Brit. Mar., Freshw. Fish., Handb. Gt. Intern. Fish. Exbib. London 1883. 
d Hist. Fish. Brit. Isl., vol. II, p. 175. 
e L. c., p. 178. 
f Brit. Fish., ed. 2, vol. I, p. 303. 
