THE ROSE-FISH AND ITS ALLIES. 
2 73 
Tomales Bay. Northward the number of species decreases, while the 
number of individuals is perhaps, equally great as far as the Gulf of 
Georgia. Southward both individuals and species rapidly diminish in 
number. 
Their range probably extends from Cerros Island to Sitka; certainly 
no further. Most of them live in shallow water, on a sandy bottom, both 
in the open sea and in sheltered bays. A seine drawn in the surf will 
often be filled with the silvery species [Amphistielms ; Ho lcanolas') , and a 
seine drawn in a bay may be equally full of Ditrema later ale, Ditrema 
Jacksoni, etc. One species is confined to the fresh waters. Nearly all of 
them feed chiefly on Crustacea, together with such small fish as they can 
swallow. The species of Abeona are chiefly herbivorous, feeding on 
seaweed. 
“ The Embiotocoids are all oviparous. The young are fifteen to twenty 
in number, and are brought forth in summer : when born, the little fish 
are from three-fourths of an inch to two and a half inches in length, ac¬ 
cording to the species. They are closely packed together in the uterus, 
the inner surface of which forms folds partly separating the young from 
each other. The young are at first excessively compressed, with the soft 
parts of the vertical fins excessively elevated. As their development pro¬ 
ceeds they resemble more and more the parent, and when born their form 
is quite similar, the body, however, more compressed, the fins higher, and 
the color usually red. 
“ Impregnation probably takes place in the fall. In January most of the 
species have the young half grown, as to length, and when the parent fish 
is caught the young readily slip out from the ovary. From January to 
June the fish-stalls where these fishes are sold are littered with these foetal 
fish. Little is known of the place of spawning, but I suppose that the 
young are simply extruded in the water just outside the breakers and left 
to shift for themselves. As to the mode of impregnation, we have made 
no observations. Dr. Blake thinks that the fleshy thickening on the anal 
fin of the male is to give the female something to hold to with the ventral 
fins, and that the two sexes approach each other, ventral surfaces together, 
and with their heads in opposite directions. They have no special enemies 
except the larger predatory fishes and the fishermen, who destroy great 
numbers at the breeding time. No diseases have been noticed. 
“The species are all, with the exception of two or three of the smallest, 
used as food. Their flesh is watery, flavorless, and much inferior to that 
of the Scorpsenoid, Sciaenoid and Percoid fishes, and only their abundance 
gives them value. Great quantities of them are consumed by the Chinese.” 
18 
