130 
I’HE BOOK OF FISHES 
Photograph by James A. Allison 
FEMALE SAWFISH TAKEN ALIVE 
3 his catch, made with a net, was exhibited for several weeks in a 36-foot tank at the Miami Aquarium. 
She gave birth to nine young, the only record of sawfish being born in captivity. 
It seemed for several years that the 
species was almost totally wiped out, but 
recently Tilehsh have been rediscovered 
in great numbers in their former habitat. 
It is not known where they retired until 
their numbers became strengthened, but 
the fact remains that this valuable food- 
fish is back again in normal numbers. 
Among the coral reefs off Florida one 
frequently sees millions of the fry of some 
pelagic or surface-swimming, offshore 
species taking shelter in and about the 
skeleton ribs and plates of a wreck resting 
on the ocean bottom, yet easily discern¬ 
ible in the clear southern waters, which 
offers a harbor for a considerable num¬ 
ber seeking safety. Not only does the 
structure of the abandoned ship provide 
hiding places, but the Grouper family, 
which makes the wreck a regular habitat, 
acts as a guard for the smaller fish against 
their arch enemies, the Jacks and Yellow 
Tails, which are in turn sought by the 
Groupers as food. The fry thus fre¬ 
quently remain unmolested, as they are 
too small to make food for the Groupers. 
When the fry move from place to 
place, they usually do so at dusk or 
through the night, and then on the sur¬ 
face of the sea, where they find their prin¬ 
cipal food—plankton, the weak floating 
organisms, and nekton, the actively swim¬ 
ming animal life—which is more plentiful 
on the surface after the sun’s rays are 
lessened. 
A PARADOX OF PROTECTION 
Many fishes of the warm seas are 
chameleon-like in their coloration and 
take on the color and hue of their sur¬ 
roundings for protection, while others 
seek the holes and crevices into which 
the pursuing fish is unable to follow. 
Some fishes, to protect their young, 
carry their eggs in their mouths. Nature 
has so taken care of other species that 
they are hermaphrodite. Others live in 
the gill cavities of a greater fish. Some 
species of the sucking fish, as an illustra¬ 
tion, utilize the gill cavities of larger 
fishes, such as the Mola, or Giant Sunfish, 
and the Sailfish, for this purpose. 
Many live in other marine animals. 
The amia, for instance, lives with the 
animal in the large West Indian Conch 
{Strombus gigantus), whose spiral shell 
