SEA-BATS AND DORIES 
225 
young of the horse-mackerel seeking shelter beneath the “ umbrella ” of a jelly-fish till they 
are big enough to defend themselves. 
But the most remarkable members of this family are the Sea-BATS. Few in species and 
confined to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific, they are nevertheless in those 
regions very common. Although not used as food-fishes, they are of extreme interest on account 
of their shape, which is nearly oval and much compressed from side to side, and the form of 
their fins, which in some species are excessively developed. Young sea-bats differ markedly 
from the adults in the much greater length of the fin-rays, so much so that they have 
frequently been described as distinct species. 
We pass now to the DORIES, which recall the Sea-bats in the oval and compressed form 
of ihe body. The resemblance to sea-bats is, indeed, so close that the latter are frequently 
described as dories. The mouth of the members of this family is so constructed that, 
when opened, the upper jaw is thrust forward, and the whole mouth forms a kind of long tube. 
Dories inhabit the seas of the temperate regions, two species being fairly common in British 
waters. The best known of these two is perhaps the John Dorv, the largest specimens 
of which attain to a weight 
of 18 lbs. Mr. Cunning- 
ham has described the very 
peculiar way in which the 
dory captures its prey. “ It 
does not,” he writes, “ over- 
take it by superior speed like 
the mackerel, or lie in wait 
for it like the angler, but 
stalks it and approaches it 
by stealth. It is able to do 
this in consequence of the 
extreme thinness of its body 
and the peculiar movement 
of its hinder dorsal and 
ventral fins. The dory places 
itself end on towards the fish 
it desires to devour, and in 
this position it is evident 
that it excites no alarm on 
the part of its prey. The 
appearance of the dory, seen 
in this way, is a mere line 
in the water, to which no 
particular significance can be 
attached. I have not par- 
ticularly noticed the effect 
of the ribbons of membrane 
which project from the dorsal 
fin. But I have observed 
that the movements of the 
dory are very gradual, except 
in turning; it alters the 
position of its body by a 
turn of the tail or side-fins, 
and then swims forward by 
vibrating the second dorsal 
Photo by W, Savillf~K/nt^ F.Z.S.^ 
LONG-FINNED DORY 
[^Milford-on- Sea 
This species closely resembles a fossil form. It has nothing to do nvith the True Dories, but is 
one of the Coral-fishes, and is placed here for the sake of contrast 
