234 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
Photo by W Savilli-Kinl, F.Z.S.'] 
[.'‘liiford-on-Hea 
GARPIKES 
Frequently called Guard-fithet 
whilst others enjoy the 
rather unusual distinction 
of being able to live in 
either fresh or salt water, 
even when rapidly trans- 
ferred from one to the 
other. The small species 
commonly inhabiting 
ponds and ditches can sus- 
tain changes of this kind 
with impunity. These 
last are very ferocious. 
One kept in an aquarium 
devoured in five hours 
seventy-four young dace 
about a quarter of an 
inch long. They occa- 
sionally occur in vast 
shoals, and, according to 
the naturalist Pennant, appear in the river Welland, in Lincolnshire, once in seven years in 
amazing shoals, so that a man employed in collecting them earned four shillings a day by 
selling them at the rate of a halfpenny a bushel ! 
The salt-water species, or Fifteen-SPINED Stickleb.\CK, is less well known. Like its fresh- 
water relative, it is a nest-builder, and the male defends the eggs and young with great courage. 
The Tortoise-fishes may serve as the representatives of the last family of this group. They 
are very remarkable fishes, being invested in a wonderful bony cuirass, formed by a modification 
of the skeleton, similar to what has taken place among the Tortoises and Turtles. The body is 
so thin that it looks as if it had been artificially compressed, and is semi-transparent. Three 
species are known from the tropical Indo-Pacific and three from other seas; besides these are 
four smaller and less perfectly armed forms, one of which, the Trumpet-FISH, or Bellows-FISh, 
occurs rarely off the south coast of England. 
The Garitke and P' lying-fishes are both interesting, especially the latter. The garpike 
is represented by several species, easily recognised by the long, pointed jaws. These fishes 
are furthermore peculiar in 
that the bones are green, a 
colour which remains even 
after cooking, and on this 
account some object to eating 
them, supposing the unusual 
colour to indicate unsound- 
ness. The elongated jaws are 
not developed in the young 
fish, and, strangely enough, as 
this character is acquired, the 
lower jaw grows faster than 
the upper. In some species 
the lower jaw remains perma- 
nently the longer ; hence they 
are known as I I.VLF-BEAKS. 
The Flying-fishes, or 
Flying-herrings, like the 
Flying-gurnards already 
Photo by IV, Saville-Kent^ F.2.5.] 
\_Milford~on~Sea 
PIPE-FISH 
The Flute-mouth, as this fish is often called, is really a gigantic stickleback 
