Ctenoid Acanthopteres. FISHES. Surmullidans. 123 
twice in the water, and if its descent were not rapid 
enough, finally abandoning it= 
The time occupied in collecting building materials 
and constructing the nest is about four hours, and 
when all is ready the male proceeds to seek a female, 
and, having found her, “ conducts her,” says Signore 
Costa, “ with man}' caresses and polite attentions to the 
prepared apartment ; ” or as Mr. Warrington describes 
his motions, “ darting round her with the' madness of 
delight.” 
The female enters the nest by one door, and having 
in a few minutes laid several eggs, escapes by the 
opposite outlet, leaving the eggs exposed to the current 
of cool water which flows through the nest. Then 
the male establishes himself as guardian of the precious 
deposit, not suffering even the female to approach it 
again. Every fish that comes near, even though much 
larger than himself, is furiously attacked ; and he gives 
battle valiantly, striking at their eyes and seizing their 
fins with his mouth. His acute dorsal and ventral 
spines are effective weapons in these combats, and able 
to rip up the belly of a small fish. The constant 
watchfulness of the male is fully needed ; for if he is 
removed by way of experiment, the Sticklebacks and 
other fish lurking in the vicinity rush with one accord 
upon the nest, and devour the eggs in an instant of 
time. F or a whole month does the male parent pro- 
vide for the safety of his offspring. In the first few 
days the openings are enlarged so as to admit a larger 
current of water to the eggs ; and about the tenth day 
the male employs himself in tearing down the nest and 
transporting the material to some little distance. With 
a lens the fry at this time may be observed in motion. 
Round these the male guardian continually moves, 
suffering no encroachment; and as the young brood 
gain strength and show an inclination to stray beyond 
bounds, he drives them back within their precincts, 
until they are advanced enough to provide for them- 
selves, when both old and young disappear from the 
place of observation. 
There are several American fishes which take an 
equal care of their young, some of which belong to the 
genera Catastomus, Exoglossuin, Pomotis, and Pimelo- 
clus. The species of Exoglossum are named “ Stone- 
toters,” because they pile up little heaps of small 
stones, among which they deposit their spawn. Pro- 
fessor Agassiz describes the operations of the Pomotis, 
or Sun-fishes, after watching them for eight successive 
years, as follows ; — 
When the breeding season approaches, a pair of 
Sun-fishes approach the shore of the pond in which 
they live, and, selecting a shallow gravelly spot over- 
shadowed with pond- weed, water-lilies, or other aquatic 
plants, clear a space of about a foot across, rooting out 
the plants by violent jerks of their tails, and carrying 
away the coarser gravel in their mouths, so as to leave 
an area of fine sand. There the female deposits her 
eggs, embowered under the overhanging aquatic plants. 
In this inclosure one of the parents keeps watch over 
the eggs, driving off intruders — an office which is 
shared alternately by the male and female. The 
fierceness with which the watcher attacks an enemy, 
and the anxiety which it manifests for the safety of its 
charge, show the strength of the parental instinct. 
The pairs of Sun-fishes are not solitary in their selec- 
tion of a breeding-place. Hundreds may be seen 
along the same bank of a pond establishing nests near 
to each other, and often separated merely by a parti- 
tion of plants, living peaceably together, and passing 
over one another’s domiciles when they go in search 
of food, without producing any disturbance ; but an 
unmated fish is chased away from the nests as being 
an unprincipled intruder. In about a week the young 
are hatched, and the parents soon cease to take further 
care of them. The Cat-fish [Pimdodus catuP) clears 
a space for the eggs like the Sun-fish, but the young 
brood remain longer, after being hatched, under the 
superintendence of the parent fish. 
Family IV.— SURMULLIDANS {Mullidce). 
Plate 7, fig. 38. 
This small but very natural family is distinguishable 
from other groups of the same order, by two dorsals 
widely separated from each other by the large, strongly- 
ciliated, easily-detached scales of the head and body ; 
the steep facial profile ; and a pair of barbels attached 
to the skin under the tongue, close to the symphysis of 
the mandible, and retiring between the limbs of that 
bone when not in use. These appendages are, how- 
ever, wanting in the foreign genus Acropoma. The 
preorbitar is high and narrow; the mouth is small, 
with feeble teeth; and the head is unarmed, except 
merely by an angular point of the operculum in some 
species ; the gill opening is wide ; and there are from 
four to seven branchiostegals. The muco-ducts of the 
scales forming the lateral line are arborescent. The 
stomach is bent like a siphon, the pylorus being at the 
end ; and the prancreatic caeca are numerous. 
The Romans named these fishes Mulli, because they 
are coloured like the bright red buskins worn by the 
kings of Alba, and subsequently by various Roman 
officials. 
The genera are — Mullus; Upeneichthys (Bleeker); Upene- 
oides (Bleeker); Mulloides (Bleeker); Upeneus; and Acropoma 
(Schlegel) 
In the present day a well-fed Surmullet {Mullus 
barhatus) is considered to be an excellent fish, and 
being generally cooked with the entrails, is often called 
the “Sea-snipe” by epicures. It was still more 
highly prized by the Romans in the luxurious days of 
the empire. Pliny says that it surpasses other fishes 
in excellence and beauty ; that it seldom weighs more 
than two pounds, and will not grow in a fish-pond. 
Martial speaks of a fish of this size as a costly gift, 
exacted from him by his mistress; and says that a 
Surmullet of three pounds was an object of insane 
admiration, while the cost of one of four pounds was a 
ruinous extravagance — Calliodorus having paid £10 
sterling for such a fish. Seneca reports that a Sur- 
mullet of four pounds and a half being presented to 
Tiberius, that emperor, in an excess of economy, sent 
it to the market. Apicius and Octavius bid for it 
against one another, and the latter carried away the 
prize at the cost of £39 of our money. Juvenal men- 
