I APPLETONS' HOME T\ READING BOOKS UC-NRLF B 3 15fl THE STORY OF THE FISHES BASKET! BIOLOG/ LIBRARY G oih ends. 1 FlG. 1. Golden carp or goldfish (Carassius auratus], uppermost figure. Catfish or horned pout (Amiurus nebnlosm). Fresh -water sunfish or pumpkin-seed (Lepomis gibbosns). TOPICS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION. 3 This fact means something more, for it tells us that the creature is intended not only to move but to move rapidly. We ourselves are made to move through the fluid which we calJ air, but man was never expected to cleave it as does a bird, else he would have been shaped like one, and he would have been so formed that he would go through it endwise as an arrow flies or a greyhound runs. The gradual tapering of the bird toward the rear is also connected with its swift flight ; for you will learn after a while that an object going rapidly through any medium pressing around it can make better speed because of this shape than it could if it were very blunt or square behind. But while this build aids the fishes in going quickly through the water, they are thinned off behind for another reason, more closely connected with their swimming well ; the tail is their great single paddle or skull-oar which pushes their boatlike bodies along, by quick strong strokes, first on one side and then on the other, like those we saw, just now, in the struggles of the fish we have just caught. So we shall have to say something about this part of the fish in another chapter. It is a very impor- tant and interesting topic. This wigwag motion is in fact the only one pos- sible for most kinds of fishes, shaped as they are, hav- ing, like the sunfish, flat sides and arched back and under parts, and great comparative depth from the highest part of their backs to the lowest parts beneath. A glance at our sunfish shows how absurd it would be 4 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. to expect such a creature to bend up and down as well as sideways. There are fish differently formed from the sunfish as, for instance, the sea-horses that do not bend their tails from side to side, but in the opposite direction. Most animals, in fact, that progress by skulling with their tails, as tadpoles, ma- rine lizards, and sea-snakes, as well as fish, use the wigwag motion in swimming. It is claimed that the fish have inherited the manner in which they swim from the sea- worms that are thought to be their re- mote ancestors, but, however true this may be, it can not be said that it is proved to a certainty. It may well be supposed, indeed, in view of all the facts, that this way of swimming belongs to fish not only, if at all, because it was the habit of their very-great, many times great-grandparents, but because, all things con- sidered, the fish that swim in this way could not swim quite as well in any other. All fishes are not shaped for speed. Some do not have very thin vertical paddlelike tails, some have scarcely any tail at all, while others possess blunt heads or great, clumsy, lumplike bodies. Their en- tire FORMS are altered to suit the kinds of lives they lead ; so that one who is learned about fish can glance at the FORM and tell you much about the HABITS and HOMES of the creature to which the form belongs, without ever having seen it before. Fishes show by their peculiar build what they can do just as certainly as long- winged birds, for instance, swallows, gulls, and hawks, and long-legged quadrupeds, as deer, hares, and hounds, show by their shape that they are swift ; or TOPICS FOR FUTL'RE CONSIDERATION. 5 the tortoise and sloth show that they are slow. This little sunfish is intended for quick and sudden spurts of speed, as is a ground-haunting quail with its short, round, quickly fluttered wings; but a mackerel, a shark, or a pike (see Fig. 2) show by their build that they are all capable of greater speed, long kept up. They can swim twenty or twenty -five miles, including stoppages, per hour, for weeks. If you saw a look- FIG. 2. The pike (Esox lucius}. down which is nearly all head and no tail, a moonfish, a lump-fish with an almost shapeless body, or one of the flat-fish, a flounder, for example, fitted only for the bottom, you would know at once what a lazy life it must live. Thus FORM becomes an interesting topic in our talks. Now let us pick up our fish. But we find it slip- pery with a sort of Mucus, or slime, so that we can scarcely hold it. Perhaps the next thing that impresses us is that this creature lies gasping in our hands as if it could not get its breath, though it is out of doors in a world fall of good air ; and almost while we wonder at it, 6 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. it dies. We conclude, therefore, again that it is fitted only for life in the water; and another interesting topic is presented to us, as to how fishes breathe in a place where we should so quickly drown. This will be treated under RESPIRATION. Here, as we attempt to handle the little body, we are very impressively reminded of some spiny mem- branes upon it similar to that upon the tail. Our fingers in this case have been painfully pricked by them. So the topic of FINS must claim our attention, for fins are very necessary, very variable in shape and number, and very interesting members generally of a fish's make-up. Take them all around, they are about as perfect in all respects in this little fish as you will find them anywhere. They have many uses which we will discuss later. But this smarting pain in our fingers reminds us of the topic of WEAPONS also, which we shall have to remember, for even this little fellow fights with its fins and defends with them its NEST, EGGS, and YOUNG three more new topics in a row. Wherever in this talk you see a word in small capitals, it means that you are going to hear more on that subject hereafter. As we pass forward on the body we find on each side in front of the fins a gashlike opening by which our fish has been gasping. This may be called the gill- opening. Inside of it are a lot of interesting things called GILLS, whereby the creature breathes. We must talk of these again ; for, while other animals have gills, none have anything just like these of the fishes, of which there are also many kinds (Fig. 3, on page 7). TOPICS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION. 7 This will introduce again the topic of RESPIRA- TION, and the various other organs by which a fish gets its breath. As fishes' HEADS are adapted in shape and size to the various uses to which they are put and are more modified for the purposes than are those of many other backboned animals, they will de- tain us a while. Whether we human folk get our living by our hands, feet, bodies, face, delicate fingers, or general shape, our heads are only slightly changed in all the trades or professions. Those having heavy burdens on them, for instance, are only a position of gills, trifle, if any, flatter than the aver- age. But we shall find a fish's head is shaped to its speed, its position, the method of catching its prey, swallowing its food, or fighting its enemy. Perhaps the MOUTH is the most formative part of a fish's head at least the most expressive feature of its face. It ranges from the most capacious horizon- tal gash, almost from gill to gill, to that of a long, snipelike beak or true pipe through which the finny toper may suck up his good things as through a straw. This leads us to the FOOD of fishes and the inter- esting kindred topic of FEEDING HABITS. Before we enter the mouth figuratively, the EYE and the NOSE claim our attention and demand a joint treatment with the EAR and all the so-called SENSES, 8 THE STORY OF THE FISHE3. such as SEEING, SMELLING, HEARING, TASTING, and TOUCH, and their organs. Some fishes have special organs of touch called BARBELS, which will be noticed, but much of their TOUCHING is located purely upon the surface. The method of a fish's touching tells us a great deal of its habits. In treating the SKIN we are necessarily attracted to the SKIN-COVERING which is usually in the form of SCALES, as is the case with our little sunfish here. But all fish do not possess scales. Some tend to have bony plates, and even ivory as a garment ; and many dress in more or less splendor at certain seasons and more plainly at others. Note the rich orange, green, and gold about our little specimen here, and you will see that another very interesting subject claims our attention that is, COLOR and what it may often tell us. TALK II. Interesting things inside the fish ; what it may do and how it does it. LET us now suppose that we are at home, and wish to dress or undress our little fish, so that we may en- joy it on the table. A great deal may be learned about the anatomy of the commoner creatures in this way, especially by boys ; and little girls who expect to have homes after a while should know enough of this to direct the ofttimes-inexperienced cook about the proper prepa- ration of game for the table. There have been some laughable and very embarrassing happenings of this kind in the early experience of young housekeepers. As we begin to explore our fish internally, the LIPS are the first in order. We shall find, as w r e study the MOUTH, that these and the JAWS are quite variable in fishes. One fish, it may be, thinks he makes himself very pretty by thrusting out his lower jaw, which at cer- tain seasons of the year has a peculiar hook upon it. Others, as we shall see, possess great thrusting, sword- like WEAPONS formed of JAWS. Naturally, we would associate TEETH with the jaws, but we must not suppose that we shall find them here only ; for they are not only on the lips of our 9 10 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. specimen and many others, but on so many other queer places (even down the throat, or on the tongue, if the fish has one, which is not always the case) that it seems as if when Nature found any va- , Q cant surface in a fish's /' / mouth she planted teeth there. Now let us take a knife and cut our fish open below, after hav- ing properly removed the SCALES and kept a few of them for later study. Notice that there is a line running down each side of the body, called the LATERAL LINE, and preserve a few scales from this also. They are different from the others. FIG. 4. Dissection of the pharynx T ... of a fish. Showing, by arrows B, In Cutting Open Our the flow of the water; ^4, the gill fish W6 find llOW thin arches; C, the gills; D, the ex- the waU of flegh ig be _ ternal openings ; G, the gullet. , , , . . . low, as indeed it is in all animals having a backbone ; but a fish is especially thick above where the muscles are. The first thing we note after the great cavity in the back part of the mouth, called the PHARYNX, is the tube called the swallow or GULLET (Fig. 4). The passage to the stomach is very short and the THE HEART OF A FISH. 11 stomach itself often very large. Some fish throw their great stomachs over creatures bigger than themselves, almost as a fowler throws his net. FIG. 5. The black swal lower (Chiasmodon nifjer) as it appears after swallowing a fish larger than itself. If we rip up the region between the gills, we find the fish's HEART always "in his throat," though he is so cool-blooded and unemotional ; and back from this run tubes to carry the BLOOD, one especially noticeable just beneath the BACKBONE. Under this tube, but still in the roof of this short 3 12 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. and narrow body cavity, lies one of the most inter- esting little contrivances in all Nature the swim- bladder, or AIR-BLADDER, as we shall prefer to call it. It is so variable in shape and uses in different fishes that we shall have to talk of it at some length and get some artist to draw you some pictures of the different kinds. But no picture can present the beautiful pearl-like luster and light, airy structure of it which you can see here now only in the real fish. Now if, as we eat our fish, we pull the flesh off carefully, we may study something of the arrange- ments of the bones. First, there are spiny or gristly spines or filaments among the fins called RAYS. These are not all alike : some are attached to the flesh only ; others have other spines beneath them reaching toward the backbone, and the spiny parts of the backbone reach up toward these last. The front fins are attached to the head, and in arrangement the four lower fins are like legs. The ribs, which are the bones that usually are the most apt to stick in your throat, lie loosely in the flesh and do not meet a breastbone below as they do in man ; and they run up almost entirely to the head, so that a fish has hardly any NECK. Finally, within the head and the hollow of the backbone lie the brain and most of the NERVOUS SYS- TEM of the fish. Occasionally, now, as we examine and eat the greater part of our little fish and compare its parts with those of others, let us turn aside to those imma- terial yet equally important and more interesting HABITS OF FISH. 13 things that go to make up its life and character, and with us in our third talk form a sort of sauce to its flesh and bones. These may cause it to differ as much from others as any peculiarities of structure. They all might be included under the great super- topic of HABITS, but we shall prefer to taste them here and there as a relish. This idea of habit means at least three things that is, what a creature does, why it does what it does, and how and when and where it does it. Every creature is very largely de- fined by one or all of these things. It may do com- monplace things, but do them in a curious manner ; it may do queer things in a very uninteresting man- ner ; or it may be curious and interesting in doing strange things in a strange way, place, or time, or with strange implements. Thus, flying is a common thing, but for a fish to fly with fins is queer indeed. Where a creature lives, as a fish, for instance, in a general way, is called by men of science its habitat ; but perhaps we might call this its HOME ; and the ex- act sort of place where it lies is called the HAUNT. Thus a fish's home is in the ocean or a fresh-water river, but its haunt is under rocks or seaweed, and so on. Our tiny fish is "at home" in fresh-water ponds and small streams, and its haunt is almost anywhere except when it builds a NEST ; then it stays by that. There are great regions where fish are very abun- dant, especially at certain seasons. These are called FISHERIES, and so valuable are they that nations have often gone to war over them and have made great treaties or contracts with each other about them. TALK III. How a fish is defined, where it gets its shape, and why it has it ; or the body, head, tail, jaws, etc., as affecting form and habits. ONLY a few minutes before the beginning of this talk the author asked a group of three young per- sons what each would say if some one asked, " What is a fish ? " The eldest said, " I would tell him that if he was so silly as not to know what a fish is he had better go and find out." By this he perhaps meant that the inquiring person " had better go " somewhere else. The youngest said, " I'd tell him it was a slim, slick thing that stayed in the water and hadn't any legs, and and was a swimmer." The third between the other two in age would say nothing, which is rather queer, since she is a girl and well-informed. She was silent, perhaps, because she knew too much, rather than too little, of the difficulty of suddenly defining a fish. In its broadest sense, the word fish is hard to de- fine so that every form will come under the defini- tion, or so that it may exclude some other very fish- like creatures ; but as we usually understand it, we may say : 14 DEFINITION OF A FISH. 15 A fish is an animal having in its flesh along the back a gristly or bony chord, and having, near its head, gills that are never shed, by which it is able to breathe in water, where it lives all its life, always having ' either no limbs at all (very rarely) or else (usually) limbs that are in the form of fins. When first written, there was in the place of " gristly or bony chord " the word " backbone," which was scratched out and replaced by " spinal column." But many fish have no bones in the spinal column or spines upon the gristly chord at all, hence the use (in the place of backbone or spinal column) of the term " gristly chord," which in the lowest forms is not even scarcely gristly but softer. All creatures having this chord, either bony or not, are called VERTEBRATES a term it is well to remember, though it is no more correct for them all than is backbone or spinal column. In this great division of animals fishes are the lowest. Our definition excludes, of course, whales, porpoises, and others having apparently rather finlike limbs, but breathing by lungs. A little farther away are the seals and others, wearing hair and fur, and swimming with flippers. But all these are mammals, or " beasts," to use a Biblical expression. Much nearer the fishes are the salamanders or efts sometimes called " water-dogs " or " mud-puppies " all of which breathe by gills when young, and some of which may breathe thus all their lives, but when grown their limbs are true legs with distinct toes, not fins. When these are young, however, in FIG. 6.- Sea animals that have no backbone. HOW FISHES ARE DIVIDED. 1Y the tadpole state, our definition does not cut them out. Indeed, then they are fishes, and change to the eft form as they grow. All are capable of living on land so long as they please after they are grown, but many live much in water also. Of course the so-called shellfish, starfish, etc., are not fish at all, since they have not even the hint of a backbone. Fish proper have been divided into certain great and natural divisions about which it will be well for us to learn something before we talk of them, since the names of these divisions occur in all writings and talks on the subject. The first and most perfect kind of fish is that which we most frequently see, such as perch, codfish, salmons, herrings, mackerels, etc. Our little sunfish (see Fig. 1) is a type. These all have very bony skele- tons and are called in English THE BONY FISHES. They have only one gill opening on the outside, and it has a cover over it. The next below these are the stnrgeonlike fishes, which usually have a gristly skeleton and many other internal peculiarities which help to distinguish them, although they shade off gradually into the bony kinds and also into the next groups below them. Indeed, they are directly akin to all the other kinds of fishes, and for that reason some regard them as quite low forms. But because they are so very strikingly akin 18 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. to the bony fishes we must keep them next to these in our arrangement. The books call them Ganoids,. but we will speak of them for a while as THE STURGEON FORMS. : ' A little lower in some respects, a little higher in others, is a group of peculiar fishes that have lung- A FIG. 7. Nearest living allies of Devonian fishes. .4, Lepidosireu ; B, Ceratodus Fosterii. x y ia . (After Gunther.) like air-bladders which are useful to breathe with ; and they have gills also. Besides this they have very pe- culiar fins that are more like legs than those of any other fishes. They are called THE LUNGFISHES. They also have only one gill-opening and a cover, and their skeletons are like the last group in being gristly. There are now only three living kinds of these lungfishes, and there are only a comparatively few of the sturgeon forms ; but long ago these two SHARK FORMS. 19 groups were the chief fish of the waters and among the first forms, as is shown now by their fossil re- mains, found in the rocks. But there is a great group lower still, made up of the sharks, rays, and skates, which have more than one gill-opening on each side usually five, though it may be seven in some cases. These alone serve at once to distinguish them from all other fishes proper, though there are many other very noticeable things about them that are seen when they are cut open. They also have a gristly skeleton. We shall call this great group THE SHAEK FORMS, though all of them do not have the outward form of the usual shark, by any means, only the general struc- ture ; but that does not concern us just now. FIG. 8. The white shark (Carcharhinus vulgaris). Now these are all of the true fishes, or such as you would call fishes should you see them. Some of these even would seem very " queer fish " if you had them all before you. But lower still are two groups that may be called 20 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. half fishes at any rate, since they do not fit well into any other of the great divisions of animals. They are hardly anything else except just themselves. To the student they are very interesting, because he thinks they tell him much of how a fish began to be, or the sort of a creature a fish was first made of ; and since we shall ourselves want to refer to some of their queer habits and quaint structure, we will class them here with the rest, where their stringy backbones, perhaps in a general way, entitles them to a place. The highest of these we will call THE LAMPREY FORMS. It includes the lampreys and the hagfishes. They have a soft head upon the end of the gristly back- FIG. 9. Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marhins), upper. River lamprey (Lampetra fliiviatilis], middle. Sand lamprey (Petromyzon branchi- alis], lower. THE LANCELET. 21 bone, as if a sharp stick were run into an apple. They have neither jaws nor limbs. The next and lowest thing that has ever been called a fish by students has only a jellylike back- bone, no limbs, and no head even, being so much alike at both ends that its scientific name (Amphioxus) means "doubly -sharp." It is in English called THE LANCELET, by which name we shall further speak of it. It is alone in its group, though there are below it some hints of slight kinship where the backbone may have been almost watery in consistence ; but we shall not pursue the pedigree of the fishes any lower than into this headless, heartless, eyeless, earless, limbless, crea- ture. It is highly interesting, however, in all its lack of so much, since we feel that it must be very near akin to, or at least much like, the forefathers of all the Vertebrates. Now let us review a little : 1. Bony fishes. } TTT-., -n f With gill-openings single and 2. Sturgeon forms. ^ ^^ 3. Lungfishes. 4. Shark forms. > with m ; and 5. Lamprey forms. ^J^J 6. Laneelets. We shall find as we go on that these groups differ from each other in many respects, and that there are other ways of grouping fishes ; also that there are many subdivisions of these groups; but this is 22 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. sufficient now. The bony fishes have the largest number of kinds (species) in them, and are by long odds the most important, since nearly all our food- fishes are found in them. 9 FIG. 10. The lancelet, the lowest known fish-like form, m, mouth ; e, eye-spot ; /, fin ; r, rod or notoehord, the first faint indication of a backbone ; nv, nerve cord ; y an- other. Perhaps before passing it should be mentioned that all these lungfishes continue to breathe by gills also, using one or both methods, as they may desire. Here, then, is the growth (or evolution) of the lung within the fishes to a state of as great cornple- ^__ _ tion as is found in some amphibians and many rep- tiles, where also it has cells in front and is a sac behind, f^^fT^^ 5 ^" in which the air may be sim- FIG. 57. Lepidosireii. * ply stored. Even so far up as the birds, where the lung is single, the whole body (bones, etc.) is often full of air-spaces intended to assist a rather scant breathing surface. The author has tried to present a glimpse of what a single organ may hint of its own development. If his conclusions are wrong, sufficient facts are given for you to form conclusions of your own. To his own mind it seems not improbable that the air-bladder arose as a simple storage sac attached to the digestive tract ; or perhaps it originated as a simple aerating or- gan of its own kind, as much so as a gill. It is shown as it develops in the young fish to be formed out of a pocket of the gullet ; so, likewise, the lungs begin to grow in all the air-breathers. That it is the forefather of the lung there can be little doubt to the student. It is not at all improbable that in the forefathers of the modern fishes the air-bladder may have run in structure far up toward a lung before it began de- DEGRADED LUNGS. grading toward the mere closed sac of the highest fishes. The author really thinks this is the case, be- cause there is so much else to show that all our fishes tended more toward being air-breathing or land- haunting creatures formerly than any do now, except, of course, the lungfishes (Dipnoi). Wherever we find a degraded lung, a part of it has become saclike, as in the serpents and in some nr. FIG. 58. Diagram of the growth of a Sea-Squirt or Ascidian. A a, Young free-swimming stage, a 2 , intermediate stage when first settling down. B b, Full-grown Sea-Squirt, rooted to the sea-bot- tom and incapable of movement, m, mouth ; e, hollow brain with eye ; g, gill slits ; h, heart : r, rod of gristle in free-swimming form ; mv, nerve cord in same ; t, tail in process of absorption in inter- mediate form. other creatures. We know that serpents once had more perfect lungs than they now have. 148 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. But the point of separation where the lung first started landward, dragging the gill with it, as in these lungfishes and the amphibians, was doubtless away down below the place where any of our true fishes are found to-day ; but it was likely some distance up after the air-bladder was well formed ; perhaps after it was lunglike and, as is hinted, after the fins had become rather leglike. Even the lamprey-forms and lancelet show evidences of having once been " better off"; and below them all are some creatures still (the Ascidians) which show in their youth that they began to have something like a backbone and were shaped for moving around, but lost all means of mov- ing in old age by means of disuse or pure laziness. Of course, you are aware that the air-bladders of codfishes are pickled, as something nice to eat, and are called " sounds," and that isinglass (not mica) is made from them. In one instance the air-bladder is said to have been converted into bone. TALK XIV. How some fishes spend their winter and summer vacations at home if they choose, and how others travel for health and comfort ; or hibernation, migration, etc. JUST here, immediately after respiration, it is proper to speak of a class of fishes usually called am- phibious that is, literally having double life. The term generally means that the fishes so named can live in two elements, as can the amphibians, such as the frogs, the salamanders, etc. Since amphibious fishes usually show their ability to live in either air or water as they travel around, the topic comes in here very appropriately. The most noted of these, because of their very peculiar good fortune in having both gills and lungs, are the lungfishes just discussed. While the bony parts of their fins are rather leglike, as we shall see under Skeleton, yet these are not at all stiff. In one case the limbs are mere threads (filaments). They use their lungs, quite likely, at that time of year only when the water gets foul or so thick and muddy that they can not breathe it by gills. They all live in hot regions where the pools dry up in summer, and this is but one of their special arrangements for fitting them to their surroundings. So, likewise, although they have lungs, they have 149 150 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. one more gill fringe than our common fishes. Rather, we might say, the one that is useless in common fishes is useful in them, a fact in keeping with our theory that the higher fishes once breathed better and were probably warmer-blooded. It seems strange that the fishes which are really the most amphibious and travel around by land are gill -breathers exclusively. We have spoken of how the mudskippers (of which there are two kinds, see illustration, page 43, Fig. 21), walk around on their fins and chase their prey on land, and of the peculiar eyes and strong spiny paired fins which they have. They have the gills also specially arranged, for it is found that the back part of the mouth is a great cavity (larger than usual), and that the sur- face of the gills here is large also. When on land they are said to keep the mouth closed and to be thus able to breathe by having this space around the gills filled with air. They can stay out on land for hours, can leap great distances by the front fins, thus seeking and pursuing a sort of crablike creature of which they are very fond. When pursued they escape by skip- ping, and do not always flee to the water. One observer states that he had to shoot his specimens. Even while in the water these fishes sit much of the time with their heads out, the body only partially under. At such times the gill-covers work very slowly, because, quite likely, the large breathing sur- face does not require rapid action. TRAVELING FISHES. 151 Just next akin to these are the gobies, which suck themselves down to rocks and stay out on land be- tween tides, thus saving a journey. These also have a similar breathing arrangement, though it is not so large. Some of the blennies also, and others, can live in the air by similar means. In most of these fishes there is an unusual amount of mucus about the gills, apparently to keep them from getting dry. The climbing perch, so called (Anabas is the scientific name, see Fig. 20, page 42), is truly a FIG. 59. The black goby. traveler, for it is found walking overland from one pool to another, being able, by means of these extra spaces around the gills, to emigrate thus. It is said that at times it is found climbing up leaning palms, holding on by its spiny fins and by a special set of spines that project downward from the gill-covers. It is not known why it climbs the tree, though it has been suggested that it hopes to find water in the axils of the palm leaves. In this fish these gill-surfaces are even more folded and wrinkled than in the others already noted, and the cavity for air extends well up into the head, 152 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. thus giving room for storage of air, and exposing a great area for aerating the blood. There is another kind of gill-arrangement for this same purpose of air breathing, which is more extensive still. The folds of the breathing surfaces are not only greater in extent and the amount of wrinkling, but they run backward into a very deep pocket extending along the body. This arrangement is found at its best in a family of eels (known scien- tifically as Sytnbranchidce), where it enables them to live for days outside the water. In this case the sac seems yet to be simply a place to put the extra gill-surface in, and, of course, to hold the air breathed ; but in an Indian fish, called Am- phipnous, the gills are largely reduced and the sacs extend farther back still, and these are of themselves breathing organs so much so that they really re- semble lungs and open directly into the mouth, where their front ends are drawn up a little, as a purse. The circulation past these is the same as it is past the ordinary gills, and is not that of true lungs. Now here seems to be a beginning on the part of Nature to make lungs out of gills. These sacs start directly out of the mouth without any windpipe, as also do the lungs of a frog. If we could not trace a much closer connection between the lungs and the air-bladder than there is between the lungs and these gill-sacs, which have lost their gills, we might err in thinking that perhaps Nature had built lungs in this way. But when we compare the structure of the lungfishes with that of the amphibians HIBERNATION. 153 above them and that of the other fishes below or near them, we readily see that the air-bladder is the fore- father of the lung. The fishes that have these gill- sacs are not at all nearly akin ; nor are they kin to the higher creatures which have true lungs, while the lungfishes certainly are. The former fishes are really high up in the bony -fish group so far up that they could not be the forefathers of the true lung-breathers. The manner in which both the lung arid air- bladders originate (begin) in the little hatching fishes, shows that these two are of the same origin. Both commence as little sacs on the side of the gullet. As we have seen, many fishes not specially sup- plied with large spaces or gill -sacs can remain long on land if the mucus is abundant or the region of the gills be kept moist. Such are the ordinary eels and others. So likewise many can bury themselves in the wet sand, as the sand-cusk and sand-perch, and live there till the return of the tide. HIBERNATION AND DRYING UP. Perhaps, before discussing how and why fishes travel, we may just here talk further of how some of them avoid moving altogether at the change of the seasons or the weather. During the coldest weather some fishes are frozen into the solid ice. This may kill many of them, but some, as the carp, are said to revive when thawed out. There are many fishes, among which is this same 154 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. carp, which bury themselves, at the approach of win- ter, deep in the mud of the bottoms, and thus lie dor- mant or asleep, as the higher animals hibernate. It would be useless to try to mention the number of hibernating fishes. They are all fresh-water fishes, mostly of our small streams, such as chubs, minnows, etc. Doubtless, when compelled by low water or extreme cold, many others do the same ; and some of those that usually hibernate may remain active during some mild winters. Such a very active fish as the black bass has been found buried asleep in the mud, even rather late in the spring. Where the water is deep enough many fishes re- main at home, and are active all winter. Sometimes these perish for want of air, if the pools are frozen over for long periods. Many a country boy has no- ticed the catfish coming for breath to a hole cut in the ice. Some fishes that remain active cease to feed, while others, as the pickerels, are very greedy at this time, and are caught with hooks through holes in the ice. A few fishes can not endure cold of a few degrees below the usual temperature, and must hasten away to deep or southern waters, where the temperature always remains much the same. Before we leave this topic we must speak of how much heat also a fish can endure, for they vary greatly in this respect also. Thus it is well known that the brook-trout can not live in water above a certain temperature. The author has watched them as they FISHES AND TEMPERATURE. 155 advanced higher and higher up the mountain brooks in the late hot summer, till they lay almost under the melting snow. Cattish, on the contrary, can live in water disagreeably warm to the human hand. In the sea, also, certain fishes are either arctic or tropical, just as are certain birds and quadrupeds. But because at great depths of the sea the tempera- ture is nearly alike everywhere, there is not so much difference in this respect in marine (sea) fishes as in birds, etc. Most fishes are comfortable at our summer heat. Some extreme cases are noted. Fishes have been found in hot springs at a temperature of 120 F. too hot to hold the hand in comfortably and Hum- boldt makes the extravagant statement that he saw fishes thrown up alive and unhurt from volcanoes when the issuing water lacked only two degrees of being boiling hot. In climates where the long, intense, rainless summers dry up the pools, we have seen that certain amphibious fishes can move overland to new pools. But Nature again has here provided a way for some fishes to spend the summer vacation at home if they choose. Thus in that remarkable group, the lung- fishes, and in some catfish-forms, serpent heads, and others, there is a peculiar habit of burying themselves in the mud, which, in connection with their mucus, forms a sort of plaster or cement ball around them, in which they go to sleep till the rains come again. Thus a lungfish (called Protopterus\ found in Asia and Africa, so completely slimes a ball of mud 12 156 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. around it that it may live thus for more than one season perhaps many ; it has been dug up and sent to England, still inclosed in its round mud case, and when it was placed in warm water it awoke as well as ever. This remarkable manner of spending the summer is called " aestivation," in distinction from " hiberna- tion." One means simply the act of spending the summer, and the other the act of spending the winter, but we usually associate the idea of a sort of sleep with each of the words. This sleep, however, may be deep or scarcely sleep at all, according to the crea- ture and the degree of cold or heat. FISH AND WEATHER. This activity of fishes at the change of the seasons is seen in a much milder form at certain changes of the weather. Every one that has studied fishes must have noticed how much more active than usual they are while it rains ; even those in deep water become playful, as if they were delighted at it. Indeed, it is likely that they are, since every rain may mean a flood, and a flood means new fields open for hunting the hope of new food, and a new journey. All creatures, even children, often appear to re- joice before a storm, or they are at least stimulated by the condition of the air that goes before storms. Likewise fishes, * though they may lie deep on the bottoms of streams, feel the coming storm, being influenced by the so-called " electrical conditions of the air." Ground fish, as eels, flatfish, etc., are espe- MIGRATION. 157 cially affected in this way, and are said to be much excited by thunder quite likely by the jar of the earth. It is said also that if currents of electricity are passed through water, the fish appear very much alarmed. MIGRATION. For the great yearly movements of fishes we may find doubtless more than one cause. As noticed, one reason may be that they wish to escape the cold. Some fishes, as some birds, flee southward or to warmer or deeper water, even be- fore there is a hint of winter. With many a par- ticular kind of food which they find in the summer home may depart, and they either follow it or search for other kinds farther away. It is highly probable that such fishes as the salmon family, the herrings, shads, pickerels, and many others which are so well known to come up the smaller streams in the spring to lay their eggs, origi- nally had their permanent homes in the upper ends of these streams. It may be that as they increased in number, and food (consequently) became scarce, they had to mi- grate lower down the streams ; and they thus finally came to remain in the ocean or large, deep rivers. But, as in the case of the birds, there is a yearly return to safe places to rear their young, up where the water is cool, clear and running. There is, indeed, no reason to doubt that a sort of home feeling may exist among these fishes. 158 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. At such seasons some, as the salmons, make jour- neys of hundreds of miles possibly thousands to their usual spawning places. As they ascend the rivers they crowd over each other pell-mell, and leap up over falls and other obstructions, often as high as fourteen feet. Here they may pile up into great masses as they try again and again to ascend. They do not stop for food, rest, or safety. As they pass the shallow or narrow places, they may be captured in the simplest manner. Even bears are known to sit beside streams and throw the fish out of the water with their paws ; and foxes snatch them up. In our more common inland streams, the suckers, buffaloes, and many others come up in the spring, in great numbers, and spend the summer. Usually, how r ever, these great pell-mell migrations are made by fishes which afterward go back to the sea or rivers as soon as the terrible egg-laying business is over. The sea-fishes show this habit in the great shoals which gather and come near the shore year after year at nearly the same dates. Some morning the fisher- men awake and find the coast waters alive with fishes. Often they disappear as suddenly as they came at times so mysteriously that it is not known definitely where many of these shoal fishes spend the rest of their time. These movements are not all connected with spawning, though some of them may be. A portion of these fishes are known to spawn in the open sea. It may be, however, that they once had a more per- manent home near the coast, where they laid their WHY THE MOVEMENT. 159 eggs, at certain seasons, and still the old instinct of travel comes upon them. It is rather evident that all fishes began to exist first near the shore. The author believes that there is in the human race even an old wild desire to move in the spring and fall, an inheritance from our savage ancestors when they roamed the hills and valleys for food and shelter, as the changes of sea- sons drove them about in the long ago- Many of these shoaling fishes which do not spawn near shore approach it, be- cause they are following and feeding on some others which come at this time for egg-laying. Such times are also the fishermen's opportunity. In discussing how fishes travel we must not omit the cases of the Remoras, or suckfishes, which are well known to fasten themselves (by means of a suck- ing disk on top of their heads) to sharks and other good swimmers, thus getting "free transportation." Other similar cases will come up under parasitic fishes. FIG. 60. Remoras and shark. TALK XV. What place a fish " may hail from and where is its home when it has any ; or distribution, home, and haunt. DISTRIBUTION. How the various kinds of fishes are scattered over the globe that is, where this family is found, and where that sort is plentiful is too large a topic for our little book ; but we can say something about it. It is evident from many things that fishes have migrated far away from the place where they were first formed. Something of this can be seen from their structure, the shape of the young, etc., but we are not going into that now. We may note this : that the rocks show us by their fossils that some fishes which are tropical forms now, lived much nearer the north pole in the long ago ; and that some now living mostly in the sea, as the salmons, have gone there from the fresh water and from much colder waters ; hence they are likely of arctic or northern origin. These same rocks, however, seem to say rather plainly that the sea was the home of all the early fishes, and hence there must have been, at first, a migration into the fresh waters. The sea was doubt- less the original birthplace of all life from the fishes backward . 160 DISTRIBUTION. 161 Now, however, some sea-fishes die at once in fresh water. Thus the shanny can live long out of salt water, but dies quickly if placed \nfresh water. The case is the same with many fresh-water fishes put into the sea. It is found that water enters into the tissues (muscles, skin, and other soft parts) of fishes even into the blood. Salt water is thus especially search- ing, and to many fresh-water fishes it is quickly fatal. As a rule (with exceptions) the fishes that are widely spread over the globe belong to very old families. In the inland streams there may be local distribu- tions of fishes that are more curious than those of the ocean, since there a continuous highway is always found. The tendency to explore new regions at flood times, which has been noted, accounts for many mys- terious and sudden appearances of fishes in newly made ponds. The little sunfishes are especially apt to be on hand soon after a new pool is formed. The author has met this little fish, not three inches long, skipping, by its tail strokes, along on its side, making very good time up stream, in water not a fourth of an inch deep. When it came to water deep enough it turned up edgewise, but lay over on its side again when a shallow place was found. Sometimes these fishes are thus found far out of the beds of streams, when all the ground has been flooded with a sudden dash of rain. At times the rain ceases so suddenly that the fishes are left there, and thought- 162 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. less persons have found them and believed that " it had rained fish." It is not improbable at all that tornadoes may take up fishes as well as other things and carry them to great distances, or that _at least fish-eggs may not be thus carried. But it is by no means always necessary to think that it has rained things when we can not see how they got into certain places. The author once dumped a bucket of small catfish into a neighbor's pond, and was informed a year later that fishes had been rained into it. It is possible also that fish -eggs may pass unhurt through the digestive tracts of birds, or that in their slimy stringy jellylike covering may stick to the feet of swimming or wading birds, and be dropped into new pools. In many cases the spawn of fishes shows great ability to live long in unfavorable surround- ings. Some of these methods may account for fishes being found above very high falls, though, in a few cases, it is more likely that the fishes were up there before the falls were there. Then, too, in times of great floods, some may have come overland from an- other stream on another slope, and entered this stream from the top above the falls. The little sunfish noted was only a mile north of the crest between the slopes of the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers. It had rained hard all that warm April day ; and since only a short, flat strip of prairie, not a fourth of a mile wide, lay v between the ends of this little branch and another that ran south into the HOMES. 163 Missouri, the little skipper may have actually made its way into the waters of another great river. In the Rocky Mountains there are many places where, by similar means, a fish from the Atlantic slope may easily pass into the waters of the Pacific; arid thus we might account for some very similar fishes being found on both edges of our continent. HOME AND HAUNT. This brings us more directly to the consideration of the homes and haunts of the fishes. Necessarily, in talking of peculiarities of structure, a great deal of this has already come out. Thus in the fins, shape, tail, barbels, lungs, gills, air-bladders, teeth, etc., the bottom-liers and surface swimmers, walkers, climbers, fliers, sleepers, and so on have shown themselves. Likewise in the topics that are to follow, such as feed- ing, spawning, nesting, capture, etc., much more of it will be noted. But many fishes are found in regions from which they stray short distances only, except at certain seasons. These regions may be truly called their homes. In these homes they have definite places where they lie, hide, or play most of the time. These are their haunts. In general we say that fishes are of the sea (marine) or of the fresh water. Those in the sea may be nearly always near the shore (littoral), or they are found mostly in mid-ocean (pelagic). They may be sur- face-swimmers or deep-sea swimmers. They may be ground-fish in the shallow sea, or swimmers in the THE STORY OF THE FISHES. very, very deep sea. As in fresh-water fishes, their homes may be indicated by the continents near whose coasts they live. Fresh- water swimmers also have their homes indi- cated by the continents they inhabit, by the portions of the continent they are found in, or the special river in which they live. Their home, then, is much the same as their distribution. Altitude seems to stop a fish's progress rather quickly much more so than the same amount of cold does when found in the direction of the arctic regions. It may be caused possibly by the thinness of the air. Perhaps the usual dash of the mountain streams is discouraging to many. At any rate, only those vigorous lovers of cool water and plashing waterfall the salmon-folk seem to take largely to streams at great altitudes. Even in sum- mer these do not care to go too high ; quite likely on account of the coolness of the water. An old trout fisher in the Rocky Mountains will dip his hand into the water and say that it is " not worth while to fish up any higher ; the water is too icy." The haunts of fishes are more definite, and, quite likely to us, more interesting. These may be in the places where they hide from foe, where they lie con- cealed from their prey, or the place where they digest their food, rest, and sleep. Our little sunfish hides beneath overhanging weeds and grasses that is, if the water be clear. Rocks, brush, the sides of logs, projecting banks anything that conceals or protects may hide a fish. The roots of trees overhanging the banks is a favorite lair for HAUNTS. 165 our black bass of the inland streams. From tliis he darts out often, making a great wave of the water, at some minnow that is passing by. Likewise drifts furnish a good hiding place. These are much used by the large catfish of our creeks, and if there be a scum dammed in to a sort of up-stream canopy, above the drift, the place is especially attractive. Many large fishes depend simply upon the safety that deep water affords rarely venturing out of it, because the shallows expose them greatly. For this reason shallow places and small inlets, where little branches come in, are favorite haunts of the minnow, shiners, chubs, and other small fishes, for here the large fish will not pursue them. Likewise under the shadows of steep banks, certain fishes, as our crappies and others, lie in companies, and pounce in packs, as wolves, upon anything eatable that passes. Often a fish has one haunt where it feeds and another where it rests from its labors a business place and a home. Thus brook-trouts are apt to lie in shallow eddies just below little falls, so that any- thing that floats down may make a circle or two, giving a good chance for examination and capture. Afterward they often go to the deep, calm pools and lie lazily near or on the bottom, while digesting their food. The rapid ripple, in which the water is so con- stantly disturbed that an enemy from above can not see into it, makes a good hiding place for some strong swimmers, but they must go out of this occasionally and rest. The author has seen a mountain trout 166 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. appear to remain perfectly still in a current that would sweep an elephant off its feet. As already mentioned, there are some of the shoal fishes of whose homes, after they leave the shore, we know very little or nothing. So others roam the sur- face in a constant aimless search, having a haunt anywhere that a prospect of food is offered. Thus sharks may cross the ocean with vessels, to get what may be thrown overboard, and the little pilot fish may follow likewise for the crumbs that fall from its larger friend's table. These and others can be said to keep house upon or near the surface. But there are in the ocean many special haunts of fishes too many for our space. Shells, rocks, sea- weeds, caverns, and nooks innumerable offer hiding places. Some little fishes find traveling homes in floating masses of seaweed, with which their colors may so blend or their tentacles or bartels so twine as to render the body scarcely noticeable. There comes in here also the mention again of those deep-sea fishes which show by their structure and kinship that they their forefathers rather once lived more nearly to the surface than at the bottom. ~No one of them belongs to a peculiar family of its own. They are many of them eel -forms, and some of them have near relatives, as the sharks, swimming yet high above them. It is very evident that fishes have often changed, not only their homes, as we saw under Distribution, but their haunts as well ; and with change of haunt and habit has come change of structure. That is the PARASITIC FISHES. 167 reason the author wishes you to be a little patient with the structure of the parts of fishes ; for these finny folk, as well as people, often tell, without mean- ing it, where they have lived. We frequently know that a man is from Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, or Mississippi by his use of words and his tones. So if we study fishes they may speak out through fin, tail, barbel, etc., whence they have come, and what they have been or are now doing. We may say to them as was said to Simon Peter : " We know thou art a Galilean ; thy speech bewrayeth thee." Many fishes make their homes in underground streams and in caves. Some of these become totally blind, because in their haunts they have little use for eyes. Well-known instances are found in the Mam- moth Cave of Kentucky and other caves of our own country, and in the caves of Cuba. PARASITIC FISHES. Besides simply hiding among sponges, corals, and other living animals of the sea, some few fishes live close about the mouth of sea- anemones, starfishes, etc., where they may not only hide among the feelers or fringed tentacles of their hosts, but may share the food which is drifted that way or drawn in at the mouth. There have been rather romantic statements made that, at the approach of an enemy of the true fish, these feelers of the host close around the guest and protect it ; but it is to be feared that considerable salt had better be sprinkled over that fish-story. Other little fishes have been more impudent and 168 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. daring still, and have made their homes within the mouths of other fishes. In that great space that is in the back part of the mouth (pharynx) of the angler or fishing-frog something like that which belongs to the amphibious fishes it is said that a little fish is often found living comfortably. Here what comes to the angler's mill is grist to the little guest. Likewise other instances of this kind have been noted, until there is much doubt cast upon the state- ment that certain fishes carry their young about in their mouths, since the so-called young may be little parasites. This latter is an equally interesting habit, however in fact, quite human ; for so many of us take better care of other grown folk that come to see us than we do of our own children. We little people know how that is : " Now, dear, you run away and wait till mamma's company has eaten." Beyond all this a certain eel-form is known to live in the stomach and breathing places of the so-called sea-cucumber (Holothuri(i), and even inside of the shells of mollusks. The most usual one is called Fierasfer. (See Fig. 18, p. 36.) It depends, of course, solely upon its host for food. HOMING INSTINCT. While this topic was mentioned under Migration, perhaps there is no better place than this to state that fishes, as well as other creatures, show a love for their haunts or homes and have that mysterious abil- ity to return to them quickly. In the cases of such as live in small streams or even rivers, the shape of the GUIDING INSTINCT. 169 bottom and banks, or the direction of the current, may guide them. Dr. Abbott mentions that he took a fish away from its home some distance, and when he ran quickly back to the place, it was already there ahead of him. In this case the fish may not have been taken be- yond its usual range, and perhaps knew the way. But in those shoaling fishes that go great journeys through the sea and come back, without sight of land, to the same place so accurately, there is some sort of guid- ing sense which is not so easily explained. They doubtless have a remarkable sense of direction and a remarkable memory of the changes of direction that have been made, as well as an accurate idea of the distance traveled each way. The story that the di- rections of waves, currents, stars, etc., guide them is scarcely to be credited. Like every other sense, this is doubtless more complete in an old fish than in a young one, and is therefore greatly improved by ex- perience as this same faculty is cultivated in a hom- ing pigeon ; but it is an extra power of some kind which the acutest senses of man, unaided by special instruments, can not compete with or even approach. A fish, unlike a bird, can not look far around it, which fact excludes all chance of guidance by sur- roundings. TALK XVI. Why a fish may love its fellows, and how it may win a mate and bring up its children; or, shoaling, courting, nesting, spawn- ing, care of young, etc. WHY these migrating fishes are thus crowded into such great shoals is a question not easily answered. Little fishes in small groups are frequently seen to follow each other blindly in their movements. Pos- sibly one of them only will see an object and dart at or flee from it, when, without any hesitation, all the others try to do exactly the same thing. This habit puts the senses of every fish at the command or use of every other one, and may really be of great help. The mere feeling of safety in the presence of others, or the fact that misery loves company, may be the first instinct that moves all free creatures to collect together. In those fishes which pursue others it is quite helpful to go in flocks, as wolves pursue prey in packs. If the prey rush from one it may fall to the other. Thus it is often noticed that flying fishes even, when frightened by one fish, may fall into the open jaws of another, since these pursuers follow them in great spreading companies. It may be that it is no advantage now to the small fishes pursued to be crowded together; in fact, it 170 WHY THEY ARE SOCIAL. would seem to be a great disadvantage, since so many more can be captured at a gulp or a dash. But it is possible that in the pursuit of their own prey this crowding is of great advantage. Possibly if not a help now, it may have been helpful at one time to their forefathers, and it is now kept up as a habit which they have not yet changed. Many useless habits now are vestiges (left-over things) of some which were useful long ago, when the family customs or the surroundings generally were different ; just as we human folk wear rings in our ears and on our lingers and birds on our hats, because some savage ancestor ages ago had the habit of doing so. There can be no doubt that these groupings are selfish, yet the constant association may build here, as among the higher creatures, a sort of love for a fel- low-traveler or fellow-hunter. AFFECTIONS OF FISHES. But the more fellowlike feeling between fishes is not developed so much in this way as it is in a few cases between the two parents, or between parent and children. In most instances, however, there seems to be (in fact, according to their habits, there can not help but be) a total lack of affection between the two parents or between parent and young. Often the female goes to the spawning place far ahead of the male, and they never see each other unless by accident. She deposits her eggs and goes away, and the male finds these eggs only to call forth his attention. Over 13 172 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. them he deposits his milt a fluid necessary to make them hatch and away he goes also, leaving the little fish an orphan. In some other cases the parents go paired, side by side, to their spawning grounds, remaining very near each other while there, and it is thought by many students that they remain paired ever after. Of course, in those fishes, noted hereinafter, which have their eggs hatched within the body, a much more intimate association must exist between the parents. Between these comminglings and those where there is no meeting at all there are all grades of association, some of which are not yet well under- stood. SEX. There are found in all fishes, no matter what the sex, rather high up in the body-cavity, two long, yel- low, fatty bodies. That of the female is called the roe, and may, in bony fishes, be often told from that of the male by being simply a long sac filled with little shotlike balls, which are the eggs. At times, however, it is impossible to tell one sex from the other. It is stated also that a few fishes have both kinds of bodies in them, and are hence both male and female. But this is very rare. Just before the spawning season this sac grows very large, and is often worth more for food than the fish itself. At the proper time this sac bursts and the eggs are laid. Sometimes there is a special tube by which they leave the sac, and sometimes they drop into the body cavity and simply run out. KINDS OF EGGS. 173 EGGS. The eggs of even our bony fishes are not all of the same size, though they are usually round like a ball. As a rule, the larger the eggs the fewer there are of them. In the bony fishes the number may be millions from a single mother at one spawning. It seems to be rather a rule with Nature that creatures which have many enemies (either of eggs, the young, or the adult) lay many eggs. The eggs of the shark-forms are not round, but are often pillow-shaped, with little strings or tendrils at each of the four corners. These latter may twine around anything, as sea- weed, and thus anchor the egg till it hatches. These eggs are usually covered with a sort of horny or leathery shell, while the FIG. 61. -Egg of Skate. eggs of the ordinary fishes are soft, with their skin (membrane) only around them. This great difference in the eggs of fishes is quite interesting and peculiar. It is remarkable that in those low fishes, the lamprey -forms, the true lampreys have eggs that are small and soft, while in the hag- fishes they are large, horny, and in many respects quite like those of the sharks. So the split-up over eggs must have started low down in the fishes. The eggs of the bony fishes may be placed almost' 174 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. anywhere. Often they float upon the surface in long, stringy, fiat bands or masses. Those of the angler are said to lie as a pink band of jelly, a foot wide and forty feet long, floating upon the ocean. Sometimes these masses lie on the sand, or the eggs may be scat- tered singly around here and there, anywhere, on the bottom. NESTS. Many fishes, as noted, have special shores, sand banks, or other places, where they go to spawn, just as some birds have special nesting places (rookeries). We have seen how they go thousands of miles to reach these places. The salmon seems to think of the place where it was born, and feels that it would like to go back and bring its babes up in the old home region. Other fishes dig holes to place their eggs in, as the toadfishes and the catfishes of our inland streams. Among the true nest- builders, the various mem- bers of the stickleback family are usually quoted and figured ; but the habit is by no means confined to these. In some miller's-thumbs (many of which are found on our northern borders), some lumpsuckers of the sea, and some serpent-heads of Africa, a nest is often built by the males. Some of the wrasses, those thick-lipped and parrot-mouthed folk, heap up nests out of seaweed, shells, and any convenient material. In some of the common little chubs of our creeks, there is the habit of heaping a pile of pebbles, upon the first layer of which eggs are laid ; then more peb- bles and more eggs, till quite a little mound is formed. In those regions where the word " tote " is used when PECULIAR NESTS. 175 " carry " or " convey " is meant, the author has heard these little fishes called " stone-toters " by the rural folk, because, likely, of this peculiar habit. The name more properly belongs to one of the suckers. Our little sunfishes build nests that are mere shal- low cups scooped in the bottom, but they are homes to these little folk, and they fight for them bravely. They are often social in their nesting, as are many birds that is, they nest near to each other, and have paths and byways leading in among the growing plants on the bottom, like those of the field mice and the hares. Many other fishes, too many to notice, build this sort of nest a mere depression. Some of the cousins of the angler one especially, known only by its scientific name as Antennarius, belonging to the same family as the frogfishes and mousefish seem to sew bits of seaweed together into a little nest in which they put their eggs. This is attached to a floating home of seaweed in which the fish lives, and the nest here is more a cradle than a house. In this case the threads are made of a sort of mucus spun out as fine as spider webs, and often there seems to be more of this than there is of the weeds. As there is one bird, the Chinese swift, whose nest is all glue or cement, so there is one fish that has this kind of nest. In this case the male is said to pick up the eggs and blow them from his mouth along with a lot of mucus bubbles. These bunch together, as bubbles in soapy water do so beautifully, and, hard- ening or drying, form a light, floating nest, one of the neatest things in Nature a little, unsinkable ark, 176 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. in which this father sends out his babes into the world. While others lay their eggs for safety in holes already made, in crevices of rocks, or between and FIG. 62. Antennarius and nest. under stones, or simply in masses of seaweed and other things, there are many that never even seem to come near shore or shallow water or other safe places POUCHES FOR YOUNG. 177 to spawn, but drop their eggs anywhere in mid-ocean. Thus mackerel are known to spawn at sea, and the young of many other fishes are found so far out from shore that they must have been hatched in mid-ocean. A few iishes spawn in winter. CAKE OF YOUNG. While, as we noticed, so many fishes are careless about their young, we find a few, such as these nest- builders, who seem thoughtful, and there are some other very striking cases where the eggs and the young are cared for. We have noticed that some fishes fight for the defense of their nests, and the sticklebacks and sun- fish, black bass, and others, are noted for staying by their eggs. In this case it is usually the male which battles, though in most bony fishes the female is larger and better able to fight ; but she so often seems an unnatural mother, not only ndt caring for her eggs, but really wishing to eat them. Mr. Dar- win notes that one Old-World stickleback has to fight his mate almost constantly to prevent this. In only a few cases does the mother take charge of the young, but some of these are so peculiar as to deserve notice, especially among certain catfishes. Even in those of our creeks a little close watching will show a parent said to be the father swimming directly beneath the young, which, like a dark shadow, seem to float upon the surface of the water, usually late in the hot summer afternoon. In another branch of the family the mother, at the time when her eggs 178 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. are laid, has the lower part of her body softened and made jellylike or spongy. This she presses down upon the eggs, and they stick to her and finally be- come fastened by a little capsule having a stem grow- ing out from her around each one of them. When they hatch, the little fish bursts out of these capsules. Another kind of catfish has folds or wrinkles of skin below in which the eggs lodge. This is likely a de- velopment from the other peculiarity, as we shall see is the case in another family. In the pipefishes and their near kin, with tubular mouths, tufted gills, and curling tails, you remember, there is found something very similar to this last case. Here the spongy flesh is evidently the beginning of something higher. In another case (the only instance in the family, it is said, where the female is concerned) there is a sort of pocket, formed evidently by the growing together of the ventral fins, in which the eggs are carried and hatched. In all the others it is the male solely that has pouches, and in them these pouches are much better or deeper than in the female noted, and they often extend from the tail up to the throat, and are drawn in a little, like the old-fash- ioned purse, to keep the little fishes from getting out too soon. When the father thinks it time for the young to depart, he stands rather erect in the water (the usual position even in swimming), and, scraping himself downward past the edge of a rock, shell, or something else, he forces the little fellows out into the world to shift for themselves. See picture, Fig. 24, on page 48, of a sea-horse in the act of doing this. WHY THEY PLAY. 179 The female is said to place these eggs in the pouch of the male. It has even been claimed that a peculiar mucus or fluid is secreted in these pockets of FIG. 63. Stickleback and nest. the sea horse, which, for a while, forms the food of the little fishes, much as a sort of milk is secreted in the crops of pigeons with which they feed their young. 180 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. There can be little doubt that in some such way in the pouched mammals, as the opossum group, the habit of furnishing milk to the young began. Na- ture is a great hinter of better things that she is going to do after a while a comforting sort of thought to those who hope and trust. In another South American catfish (or one be- longing to the great catfish family, perhaps the most widely distributed fresh-water fishes known) the father takes the eggs in his mouth, carries them about, and they are hatched and live for a while in his broad, deep pharynx or gill cavity. You recall that some fishes were found parasitically boarding here, which are not the children, and that some doubts have been cast upon this fatherly habit. But others one in India do the same thing, and a certain fish in the Sea of Galilee is said to carry the eggs in its mouth. There is no record of the young running into the parent's mouth to escape enemies, as some of the lit- tle snakes are said to do. In the low fishes, as the sharks and sturgeons, there is no care of the young known, and in most cases the little ones are orphans always, dodging around to escape the jaws of something larger often those of their own parents. In no class of animals are there so many that prey upon each other as in the fishes. PLAY AND DISPLAY. This topic is suggested not by fishes caring for young, but for each other. We have already noticed how they may go in shoals when grown, or in schools THEIR INTELLIGENCE. 181 when young, and thus grow perhaps to like each other, though some of these, as our catiishes which play in troops when little, become solitary and selfish when they get very large. There can be little doubt that fishes play. As is usual with animals, this may consist largely of mock fights, chases, and retreats, which things show how a fish can see a joke and take one. It implies a sense of humor a sense which every human is not largely endowed with. Little fishes, apparently in pure glee, sometimes leap entirely out of the water. Play here, as with children, seems to take on the art of pleasing, as it does in all animals. Who has not seen a dog trying to coax another into good humor by play ? But play for pleasing may take on the form of display the wrong sort of play which so many of us, not scaly or finny, indulge in. We have already seen, under " Color," that at the social seasons certain orna- ments and brilliant markings may appear, and it is undoubtedly true that our little aquatic friend is found at times showing off in a very earnest yet undignified manner, either to charm his sweetheart or to make his rival feel bad. You know we all use our pretty things in these two ways, and it is to be recorded to our shame that we often enjoy the one as much as the other, having become no better than the fishes in this respect. We have noted that the nest is usually or often built by the male. He has been seen, after its com- pletion, to go to a certain finny lass which he doubt- 182 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. less preferred above all others, and, by showing her all his " beauty spots," by dancing, turning, and run- ning in and out of the nest, to offer her, along with his devoted heart, a home already fitted up a thing that is often very fetching among us human folk. After the proper degree of hesitation and modesty, she accepts by going into the nest, when the little lover's joy seems to know no bounds, and doubtless his little cold-blooded heart is warmer a degree or so. It is certain that many of these fishes remain paired for a season or two, perhaps for life ; but at each season it is quite likely or at each anniversary of their marriage rather, as is well known to be the case with some birds the husband insists on a silver or golden wedding that shall give him the chance and the pleasure of living over the romance of their first courtship. We human folk are not so much ahead of everything in everything. Fishes are often spoken of as cold-blooded, unfeel- ing sort of creatures. Usually they may be ; but we are growing of late to look for love and the root of all that is good in us in many of the things below us. God did not wait for man alone that love and sacri- fice might live. We have seen some wonderful instances of care of the young : " Greater love hath no man than this." An equal love for mates is often seen, though a fish, like a human, marries again if its mate be killed. Dr. Abbott says that he once killed the mate of a little fish and put the body into the nest ; when the re- maining one discovered the dead spouse its show of SINGING PISHES. 183 grief was so great that he felt sure that he should never try the experiment again. If the author wanted to use a big word he would say that he had just been talking to you a little about the psychology of the fishes. But he will have to let much of their common sense and smartness pass, except as you may note it in other topics. Usually, when not desperately in love or almost starved, a fish is not a fool by any means ; and this is about as much as can be said of many of the rest of us. There are fishes that thrust their heads above water and call or sing, doubtless either to attract or charm their mates. The rule is that such musical fishes are not very pretty. They presume more upon their accomplishments than upon their fine clothes. TALK XVII. What a fish may eat and how it may get it, and how it is hatched and gets its growth ; or food, hatching, and growth. A FISH eats much as any other creature does, and its food, by means of the digestive tract and the circulation, is carried to the various parts to build them up. After it is aerated, the blood carries with it the stimulus of the oxygen, so that the food is actually broken down, consumed, or burned in some way that we do not understand. This destruction of the food, or of the tissues that it has built, produces energy or force somewhat as the destruction of the zinc in a battery produces electric force, or that of the coal under a boiler produces expanding force. We must not feel, however, that the process is as simple as the examples given. That mysterious force called Life comes in here and makes this battery un- like any other battery, and this furnace and boiler unlike any other furnace and boiler. The forces which are the result of the consump- tion of food are of two kinds in fishes and the higher creatures. The first is a nervous force, whose busi- ness is largely to set up and restrain again that other peculiar force known as muscle -pull. Under the next topic we shall see, just a little, how these things are arranged. 184 " FOOD AND FORCE. 185 As already noted, the hot-blooded animals convert more of their food into heat than the fishes do. The latter can doubtless convert part of the food into force without forming heat, just as some of them con- vert it into light without heat. We have seen, also, that they make electricity without heat. As a rule, fishes are very greedy feeders espe- cially at certain seasons. As noticed in the codfishes, the liver seems to become a great storehouse of fat, a substance which in animals is another name for the best of fuel or force- maker. But there are seasons when some fishes may fast for great periods and yet remain active. This is fre- quently noticed in the goldfish of the aquariums; and any angler knows that there are long periods when the fishes of fresh water do not appear to feed at all ; then come other times when they " rise," or " bite " well. It is a singular thing that some creatures can fast for long periods, if left undisturbed, and yet lose almost no appreciable weight. It is said that while fresh- water fishes may go for months without food, a few days of fasting kill the marine fishes. As we have seen from a study of the stomach and teeth that fish are both flesh-eaters and vegetable- eaters, observation of their habits shows the same thing. The carps and others chew weeds, as do sheep and goats, while an angler will take down some living animal at a gulp. Others swallow the mud of the bottoms in great quantities, and allow their stomachs to separate out and digest the little food there is in 186 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. it, and reject the un digestible matter. They have thus no need of taste or teeth. In the gizzard-shad the stomach has so much to do in the way of grinding food that Nature has thickened its walls into a gizzard such as the vege- table-eating birds possess. We have frequently had to refer to the kind of food a fish used, and the way it captured or ate it. Food-taking, the all -important thing in life, is asso- ciated with every form of structure, with every part of the body; and a slight review or general collection of some of the more striking feeding habits may not be out of place. Fishes that feed by gnawing or scooping at the half-hardened parts of corals have teeth set for the purpose, or beaks shaped for cutting them up beaks somewhat similar to those of such birds as the par- rots, grosbeaks, etc. In these cases the fish often lives FIG. 64. The hagfish. or hides among the branches of the coral, so that it finds here both home and pantry bed and food. We have noted such fishes as live inside of other creatures. The hagfish, however, first fastens itself VARIOUS FEEDING METHODS. 187 upon a fish by means of its sucking mouth and pis- ton! ike tongue ; and it finally, by means of a ring of teeth around this tongue, bores a round hole into its prey and enters the body. This eventually means death to the fish it fastens upon, but it is surprising how long some fishes can endure injury. Fishes with a sucking disk on top of the head do not feed upon the host ; they simply catch on for a free ride, as boys hitch their sleds to a moving vehicle. We have seen, of course, how most sharks seize their prey and cut it up ; how rays fall on theirs at the bottom, and covering it with their great wing- like fins, force it into their mouths. But the basking shark, among the largest of the sharks and the most harmless strains water out through its gills, where it has a set of special fringes to catch small particles of food as they pass. Its method of feeding must be very satisfactory, for it is often found floating on the surface, as if it were full and asleep. It has very small teeth. The mullets sift food similarly through / their gills. We have had frequently to mention the angler's habit of stirring up the mud around it, and moving its two colored tentacles above, so that a fish might think these were worms wriggling in the mud, and be lured to approach. This fact, it is said, was known to the ancient Greeks. A similar use is made of glowing (phosphorescent) barbels by some deep-sea fishes. Besides the pursuing habits of the mud-skip- pers, and the leaps of the trouts and others after 14 188 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. prey which is not in the water, there is another well- known case, which is always interesting. It reaches up almost to human ingenuity. Ornithologists have loaded their guns with mer- cury (quicksilver) to shoot specimens of humming birds. While the plumage is not injured, the liquid shot stuns the bird. Some of us know that a man may be killed with a stream of water from a hose, and mountains are moved in this way in mining. A certain little fish, well called the fly-shooter, has a tubular mouth when it is closed ; and when it sees an insect sitting on a weed or limb overhang- ing the water, it swims slyly up under and shoots out a little jet of water with such force and good aim that the prey falls stunned into the water, and is eaten before it can recover. These fishes live in the waters in India and the islands of Asia. They are brilliantly colored and beautifully marked, and make interesting pets in an aquarium. It is said that they can bring a fly down four or five feet away. Often, after they are full, the fishes which kill their prey may keep on killing for the enjoyment of pure cruelty, just as dogs kill sheep or anything else, as a weasel will kill all the chickens in the coop, or as a boy or hunter will kill more birds, rabbits, or squirrels than he needs. But the comparisons are sufficient. Sometimes near the lair of a large bass, bits of minnows will be found floating, or a fisherman will find his minnow bitten in two, or mangled by a bass that is full but still in a killing mood. While some fishes appear to reach a limit in HATCHING. 189 their growth which they never pass, others seem as if they are large or small in keeping with their length of life, and the amount of food they get. Thus a carp, like a hog, may be fed up to a great size in a short time, and if given all it can eat, there is scarcely any telling how large one might grow, for these fishes live a long time and grow, perhaps, as long as they live. But do what we may with a minnow, a darter, or a stickleback, we can rarely force it to grow beyond three inches. How A LITTLE FISH GROWS FEOM THE EGG. Since growing is so largely the result of eating, it may not be out of place here to see how a little fish grows from the time it is deposited as an egg. Those little fishes that are born already hatched are not included in this account. The eggs of fishes are hatched directly by the heat of the sun, or by heat absorbed from the water. So far as we know, there is no such thing as a fish sitting upon its eggs (incubating) to hatch them. This seems to be useless, since the body of the parent is no warmer usually than the water in which it swims, and it can therefore give no warmth to its eggs. But some other cold-blooded creatures sit upon their eggs perhaps only to guard them, but it may be to hasten their hatching. If this sitting (incuba- tion) found its beginning in the act of remaining over the eggs to guard them as it probably did then this habit began at least as far down as the 190 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. fishes ; for many of them stay over their eggs and guard them. We shall omit all the difficult things about hatch- ing, and note that the first very noticeable beginning of the fish is a little streak or string that lies over the outside of the yolk of the egg ; for a fish's egg, as well as that of a bird, has a yolk. The fish begins in the white of the egg (so called in birds), but it finds most of its food in the yolk. About the sev- enth day varying with the kind of fish and the amount of heat the heart and the blood-vessels show as little red threads that run here and there, and these begin to beat as the blood is sent around to build up the body. A little later other internal parts begin to show. The pectoral fins develop very early doubtless because of their importance in balancing the little creature and are very large for so small a fish. The eye at this time is simply enormous in proportion to the size of the body. In about twelve days the baby fish breaks through the tough covering of skin or membrane which sur- rounds the egg, and goes swimming about with the FIG. 65. 1. Fish eggs. 2. Young fish. YOLK AS NURSING BOTTLE. round yolk still hanging to its stomach. It is liter- ally its bread basket (or nursing bottle placed a little low down), and from this its nourishment is drawn until it is able to catch food for itself. Usually this yolk remains for a period of seven to ten days, when it is gradually absorbed into the body, and the fish grows rapidly by food digested in its stomach. Previous to this there was little need for the young fish to breathe because the egg furnished air as well as food; but now gills begin to develop or form, and by the time the lunch provided by the egg is gone the little swimmer is getting its breath in the usual way. In a few fishes these gills, as noted, are at first tufts on the outside, but they are afterward taken into the gill-cavities. Sometimes these external gills show while the fish is still in the egg, but are of the usual sort after hatching. This same practice of being fed by the yolk for a while after being hatched is seen in such birds as run from the nest as soon as hatched little chickens, for instance ; and this is also the case with some other creatures : but in all these cases the yolk is drawn into the body before hatching. TALK XVIII. Where a fish wears its bones and how it moves them, and how it may not be so brainy now as it once was ; or bones, muscles, nerves, and brain. BACKBONE. AFTER a series of talks about the more interesting subjects of homes, food, spawning, hatching, growth, etc., the author turns reluctantly to talk of a fish's bones, muscles, and nerves, or the system of locomo- tion. The discussion of some of these topics is neces- sary to our best understanding of other things that go before and follow this talk. When speaking of scales and skin, it was said that before the fish-forms existed Nature built outside skeletons exclusively. As Professor Riley once said, to use the phrase of a great wit, some of them, as crawfish, lobsters, insects, etc., literally " sat in their bones " instead of their flesh. They wear their bones outside. But when the fish-forms began to hint of their coming, it was done by means of a membranous, jellylike or gristly string which was found inside the flesh, just above the body cavity. In a few creatures below the fishes there are found bits of it, but such do not run the full length of the body only half way, perhaps ; still, they were the beginning of that 192 ORIGIN OF BACKBONE. 193 effective weapon for the conquest of the dry land which is known as the backbone. The scientists call this original string the noto- chord. Around this, at first apparently to protect it, there began to be formed other gristly parts, short and broken, which afterward became bony and jointed, as we see in the more perfect backbones of the fishes of the present day. Even in the lancelet the original chord itself was broken up into a series of joints, which appeared as thin disks (as coins) placed face to face inside of a continuous, long, round sac that just covered them neatly, like a long, slim purse. For a long time in the fishes this chord remained, wrapped only in a loose covering of membrane and in surrounding gristly pieces, the chord itself being the string on which these pieces were strung. It yet remains so in the lungfishes, the sturgeons, and many others. But at last, in the higher bony fishes, these gristly parts became so important that they closed in on the chord, and this latter has thus entirely disappeared or been replaced by bone, except when the fish is very young. In one kind of fish (the spook- fish, see Fig. 99, page 249) a complete series of sepa- rate rings remains formed around the chord, much as a series of small silk spools might be strung on a string. In the sharks these rings have closed in more and more till they have become solid at least solid gristle, and the original chord is cut up into small bits, lying between these bony rings. 194 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. We must not get this chord confused with the spinal marrow, which is really a part of the brain. This latter, a great nerve-chord, is older than the noto- ckordj and lay separate above it for a long time ; but when the hard, gristly parts and bones began to form in this region, they made a separate groove in them- selves at first for this nerve-chord to lie in. After- ward this groove closed together on its top side, and we have that tube in which we find the marrow now. So, likewise, we might as well say here, there were grooves (and later in some places tubes or round holes) below the notochord where certain blood-ves- sels were carried. The author has dwelt on this subject that you might have here a little glimpse of the probable origin of the backbone, because it is in the fishes proper that this first shows. We should be interested in an implement so great in animal progress and in the conquest of the world. There would probably never have been any skull, and therefore no brains, as we have them now, had the backbone never been started on its way by the very low fishes. Of course, it is possible that great speed, intelli- gence, emotions, and affections may be developed without a spinal column, as they are to a large extent in some insects. If the other worlds, as the planet Mars, be inhabited, its most intelligent and spiritual creature may be an insect or some form of animal entirely unknown to and unimagined by us ; but on earth, civilization is what it is to-day because this same spinal column has been the means (the only ORIGIN OF SKULL. 195 possible means) of man's walking erect. There seems to be a special fitness in man having his hands free and his head the highest part of him, pointing away from the slime of his origin to something higher yet ; and, in fact, it is impossible for us to conceive a form and arrangement of parts better fitted for the use of an intelligent soul than that of man, who, Scripture tells us, was made in the image of God. SKULL. The origin of the skull or brain case is not a topic simple enough for us to talk about, even if anything definite could be said. For a great while students have wrangled much over it. It quite likely grew out of that simple tendency which Nature shows in provid- ing the groove and tube on the backbone to put the spinal marrow in ; but whether the skull is an ex- .panded joint of this backbone or a separate box grown to it, is not a settled question. There are some inter- esting things which point both ways, but they are too technical for us. We may note, however, that the outside bones of the head in the fishes are numerous and seem now to be skin-bones, so called that is, they have grown directly out of the skin instead of passing through the gristly state, or being first con- nected with some other bone. (See Fig. 51, page 116.) The lancelet, we noted, had no head, and the lam- prey-forms have only a sort of skinny capsule for a skull, apparently stuck on to its notochord. We have seen enough to know that Nature can easily develop bones suddenly wherever they are needed, 196 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. and grow two or more together at times. Here she has done this, extending the skin bones down to the gristle bones of the head when she chooses. It may be of interest to add that while in man and all other mammals the lower jaw joins the skull di- rectly, and in lower creatures still there is a single bone between the jaw and head, there is in the fishes here a series of these bones ; and their peculiar arrange- ment differs in the shark-forms and the bony fishes, whereby the groups may be generally distinguished. Bones which in man (and the mammals) are found inside of the ear only, are found outside here in the fishes, and are used simply to swing the jawbone to the head. To return to the spinal column. The breaking up of the chord into joints (vertebrae) seems to have been a matter which Nature indulged in at her con- venience, or rather at that of the creature. Some fishes have many more joints in the backbone than others, and the families are thus distinguished from each other. The snakes are usually lengthened out by giving them a lot of extra pieces in the backbone. When Nature desires to make anything very yielding (flexible), and at the same time stiff and supporting, it is broken up into bits well fitted to- gether, as we saw in the fin- rays of the lower fishes. In some cases, as in the backbones of the birds especially, certain parts are stiffened by having sev- eral joints of the backbone grow together ; but this is not the case in the fishes. Indeed, in the higher ani- SPINES OF BACKBONE. 197 mals a great many bones are now grown together which were once separate, but in the fishes these fused bones are still free, for it was in or near the fishes that so many bones first began to exist. This makes the study of the bones of fishes of great interest. But we are not going very far into the subject, for it is a study by itself. SKELETON. It may be well to say that much may be known about a fish from a glance at a single joint of its back- bone. In the lower fishes the whole skeleton is mostly gristly, but in some of these and all the higher fishes it is bony, as we find it in the perch, mackerel, smelt, trout, etc. A singular thing is the number of spines that may project from the spinal column, as may be seen by the picture. (See Fig. 51, page 116.) In each joint a spine may project on each side, as do the teeth of a double comb. To some extent spines project from all four of the sides. It will be noticed in the cut (see Skeleton, Fig. 51, page 116) that at the points where the fin rays come in there is a series of short, thick spines that run inward from the base of the ray or fin spine till they point between the spines which are on the back- bone. These floating spines help to form a sort of connection between the fins and the spinal column. In the fishes there are many connections thus at- tempted which are not complete not nearly so com- plete as they are in the higher animals. 198 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. These projections from the backbone are used also for the immediate attachment of muscles and ribs. The backbone is called spinal column, because it has spines upon it. Ribs did not seem to be needed at first in the lowest fishes, though there were gristly hints here and there of their coming, even in the lamprey -forms. In the sharks and sturgeons they are only yet mere begin- nings, or short stumps of cartilage (gristle) at least not so long as in the higher forms. But while ribs are of no use to a fish in breathing, they seemed to be of great use in some other respects, especially in building the body better for more rapid motion. We find them (in our throats sometimes) of great number and many shapes. Some of them are forked where they join the backbone ; many are forked at the other end, and a few are forked at both ends. Some are fairly splintered at the outer end; and in two cases that of that large cousin of the mackerels called the tunny, and in that queer beginning of the bony fishes called the McMr there are two sets of ribs, one above the other. These fishes are not nearly akin, one being much higher than the other. The ribs in fishes may reach the breastbone, as some of them do in the higher animals. This bone is small and unimportant here, however ; sometimes it is wanting. Before leaving the backbone, it is interesting to glance at the manner in which it terminates or runs out into a tail in different kinds of fishes. In all the low fishes, as sharks and sturgeons, the tip of the ORIGINAL TAILS. 199 spinal column turns up as the runner of a sleigh ; and usually, instead of having the fin around it, the rays stick out from each edge. They are nearly al- ways the longer below. The tail in this case runs entirely through the tail-fin. There can be but little doubt that the first true fishes had a straight " tail-bone," but this also ran entirely through the fin, with the rays of about equal length on each side. FIG. 66. Structure of heterocercal or vertebrated tail-fin. The bent-up tail-bones, as noted, are quite likely associated with early ground-feeding or low-swim- ming habits, when the stroke was more effective in paddling if the tail did not sweep the mud. This form is seen yet in the skeletons of sharks, and makes their tail-lobes all appear unequal, as we have noted in the thresher. (See Figs. 48 and 66.) While, at first sight, this method of ending the tail -fin does not show in the bony fishes, there are yet traces of the notochord being bent up at the tip, even in those which are fully grown; and in the young and hatching ones the bend is very ap- parent (see Fig. 65, page 190), hinting that nearly all our modern fishes ascended from this style of forefather. Such is the tail of the bowfin, a fish 200 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. between the sturgeon-forms and the bony fishes. (See Fig. 81). But in these bony fishes, however, the tail can not be said to pass through the tail-fin, but appears to have been much shortened. LIMBS. We have been talking now about the central skeleton of a fish, but the limbs remain yet as the most interesting parts. We have seen much of them as we have come along ; for we have already learned that the limbs of a fish are its paired fins. In man and the higher creatures the limbs proper consist of three parts : a long bone next the body, two others in the middle, and the hand or foot, as the case may be, at the end. But in the fishes there is no trace of this first long bone, and often the others are very hard to recognize. As noted, the rays of the fins are in no sense fingers. The manner of attaching the limbs to the body is also peculiar in the fishes. In man, and the mammals generally, the arms are rooted in the flesh, outside of the box of ribs, by means of three great bones which meet, and form the shoulder joint (or arch rather). In the lower fishes there is a similar arrangement, but in many of the higher ones the arms or pectoral fins are hinged to the head, the collar bone only being a part of the support. The hind limbs of the mammals (and birds) are connected to bones that are now permanently fas- tened to the spinal column ; but in the lower fishes ORIGIN OF LEGS. 201 this joint also is simply rooted in the flesh, and lacks many of the parts found in the higher creatures. We have noticed how these rear fins have trav- eled forward in many fishes, especially the higher. So, of course, their roots are farther forward, and in some cases they also are actually hinged to the head and to the same bones to which the fore-limbs hang that is, the collar bone as may be seen in the cut of the skeleton. (See Fig. 51, page 116.) In a few cases the shoulder bones of the front fin run over to the top and join the top spines of the backbone. In no shark-form are the rear fins connected, with the head. In all low fishes these fins remain well toward the rear, sending in bones or gristles that seem to reach for the backbone, but scarcely touch it, as the limbs of the higher crea- tures do. This was doubtless the manner in which the limbs of all backboned creatures began that is, first upon the surface. But there are a few things that tend to make us feel that all of our modern and many of our fossil fishes came from forefathers which had more leglike limbs than those we now find on the most of them. These modern limbs show signs of having lost some parts which may once have been used in walking or crawling " on all fours." In the lungfishes we find what has been called by students the earliest form of fin, after the skin folds had been broken up into four parts. See Figs. 67 and 68, showing limbs of Australian lung- fish. 202 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. It has the fins far apart, and running lengthwise through each is a bone jointed as the backbone is FIG. 67. Head and fore limb FIG. 68. Hind limb of same, of a Ceratodus. (After Gunther.) but appearing decidedly more leglike than the usual fan-shaped fin. In this fish also the shoulder joint is more perfect than is usual. Much farther up in the fishes in those having a true bony skele- ton and no lungs but gills there is the bichir, which also has a fin built on a similar plan. It seems strongly hinted that the early fishes may have wan- dered landward a little and come back to the water later, just as we are sure that whales, seals, and such animals were once land-walkers, but in the long ago they took again to swimming almost exclusively, and thus changed their shape to that which we now see. You recall that the air-bladder, the circulation, the degenerate heart of the high fishes, and the for- ward movement .of the rear limbs indicate that fishes once knew a better estate, from which they have fallen. At this turning point it is possible that fishes went backward, and the amphibians went onward. But while some fishes may be degenerate (degraded) amphibians, they have gone on up again in their own way, till no creature is better adapted to its place in Nature than the highest kind of fish. MUSCLES AND NERVES. 203 MUSCLES. A few words about how bones are moved, and we are through this tedious talk. The muscles are the great movers. In the low creatures they form all the body even in those which can move readily, as the worms. But speed and great strength usually mean a skeleton of some sort ; and in the backboned creatures most muscles are made fast at each end, to bones, or to other muscles which are so fastened. In the lancelet the muscles are only two great strips, which are attached to each other at the ends. It is readily seen that by shortening one and not the other a wriggling motion is obtained. In the lamprey-forms, the muscles anchor to the head ; and as we come up the scale these muscles split up and send off parts to every bone that needs to be moved, and anchor themselves at nearly every steady place to be found. Fishes have few cross muscles, however. The old tendency to lie in strips may be easily noticed. Of course, they have special muscles to move the fins, jaws, etc., but the greatest of all are those which move the tail and the entire backbone the most important muscles in the vertebrates the same by which man is able to stand erect. NERVES. Muscles are caused to move or contract (they never really push) by means of nerves. Just how JO 204 TRE STORY OF THE FISHES. this is done we do not know. It is one of those great mysteries of life, at the vestibules of which we bow and take off our hats and sandals in our igno- rance and meekness. If the nerves are cut, the mus- cles are useless. We have already seen how the great nerves are cared for in the skull and backbone. The lower creatures had no such place for theirs ; and some of them have no nerves at all that we can find yet. The first of the vertebrates did not wear their spinal marrow inside their spines. When they got a good skull, much of their nervous matter went inside of it, bunched itself into a brain, and then that began to direct the rest of the body. Previous to this the fish's brains were just scattered around loose, almost anywhere about the body. This is another thing for which we should thank the fishes. They do not seem to have put so much of their spinal column into their skulls as they might, for the latter is not entirely filled with the brain, but has space to spare, which is occupied by a fatty sort of cushion- ing. It would seem, therefore, that the fishes may have been even more brainy once than now that they have gone down hill in this respect also. The so-called "head-fishes," in losing a part of their tails, lost the rear part of their nervous systems or spinal marrow also. TALK XIX. How a fish may show its raising, and thus keep a family record, along with that found in the rocks ; or vestiges, fossils, and parts peculiar to the young. As noted, we find little fishes, when very young, having the yolk of the egg attached to the outside of the stomach. (See Fig. 62.) We go further back and find the beginning of the fish to be a mere speck in the white on the outside of this yolk. We see that this yolk, as the young swims about, shows as a vestige (left-over part) of a former condition. We know that the fish in its growth once had no shape except that of the egg. So likewise we find creatures yet that are single cells, or little balls of living matter. Those of which we spoke, as simply flowing around their food, are really such. The little fishes seem to have begun at the beginning. Later we find our fish a mere string upon the yolk, with no heart or head or limbs, yet the blood is pulsating in it. It is apparently a mere worm. There are similar worms in Nature ; in fact, the lowest fish-form, the lancelet, is just about this sort of a creature. If we look a little later, our fish may be seen to have peculiarly tufted gills on the outside. These are 2Q5 206 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. vet found in the free young of the lungfishes ; and in the grown ones they have been drawn inside and re- main yet as mere stubs. But above these are grown- up fishes that never have tufted gills. Behold, a few days later our little fish has drawn its tufted gills inside, and has put on gills like those of the ordi- nary fishes. It seems to be tracing here in its egg the various grades of gills found outside. Again we watch its tail. It is straight at first, as that of the lancelet ; turned up later, as that of the low shark-forms ; a little less so further on, but still it is long ; then finally it is shortened like that of the birds, and is the same as that of all bony fishes, with a peculiar spread-out end for the rays to grow around. Is it not singular that this little tail as it grows should thus mimic all the tails below it ? Let us look at the tail-fin. In the little fish it is a simple fold of skin at first, running all around the tail above and below it and far forward. It is not broken up yet into parts. The lowest fish-forms are that way yet. After a while even after it swims this great fold has had rays grown into it, and has divided into the dorsal fin, the ventral fin, and left the tail-fin on a stem, to itself. The case would be the same if we looked at the air bladder, the mouth under the body, and many other things which we have not even mentioned in this little book. Now, since we find this youngster telling us so much by its mimicry of the order of things which we can see is the real order of arrangement in Nature LARVAL FORMS. 207 (such as the cell, the worm, the lancelet, the tufted- gill fish, the turned-up tail fish, the far-back mouth fish, and so on), we can trust it a little bit if it hints at some things that we have not yet found, or may never be able to find ; for there are many lost links in Nature. We have been doing some of this sort of trusting as we came along, and the author wishes now that you may see the reason for the faith that was in us. Sometimes creatures have what is called a larval form, just as the caterpillar is a larval form of the moth. More nearly to our case is the tadpole which is a larval form of the frog. All these larval forms show a state up through which the race quite likely came. Some of our eels have a larval form. It some- times happens in other creatures that the growth ceases in the larval form, and they remain in this state and lay eggs to rear young. Thus one amphib- ian may so remain always young in form, at least, and under certain conditions breathe by gills ; but under other conditions it may grow on, lose its gills, and breathe by lungs. This shows how much a crea- ture may be shaped by its surroundings. Some students have never been able to explain many of the peculiarities of the shark-forms ; but by supposing that they are such (arrested or stopped) larval forms of what was once a higher fish, their relations to the others seern more natural. There are many hints that point that way. We have seen that the flatfishes appear as if they once swam up edgewise, because they have bodies 208 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. shaped slightly like those of the sunfishes and perches. The young swim so yet, and the progress of the lower eye over the head may be watched, showing that this is a late development for a special use. If we had not seen the young, we could not be so sure of this, for there are no forms now between the flat- fishes and the usual kind, though some of the former are flatter than others. Little sunfishes sometimes lie and swim on their sides. We have to be careful, however, about believing everything which the growth of young things indi- cates. Nature hurries many processes very much, and seems to get so anxious about important things as we noticed in the eyes and the pectoral fins that her method in one place is not always to be trusted, unless she has hinted strongly at the same thing in another. We have seen in so many cases where old things have been retained for new uses, or have been changed into new tools 1 It may not always follow, therefore, that certain parts found about a little fish belonged once to its forefathers when they were grown. It may be that such as plates, weapons, etc., are necessary to protect the young in their defenseless state, and are lost by the old fishes because they are not needed. Nature can put on certain things at certain needed periods, as we may see, when she gives the deer horns at that time only when he has to fight his rivals, and takes them off quickly later that he may better escape his foes. NATURE'S RECORDS TN SCARS. 209 We have had much to say of the angler; but this last is about its baby. Here is a picture of it. For a long while natural- ists thought the young was another species. You recall that some of this family live in floating sea- weed, but the parents of this one lie on the bottom. AT j ,1 i j- FIG. 69. Young of goosefish or Note the tentacles or strings angler, projecting from this little fellow, which show that now, as a baby, it may hide much in floating seaweed also. Now, if there were no kinsfolk living in this way, we should think this merely a peculiar protection to the young ; but since we find one of this group sewing a nest to the side of seaweed, another with a fin converted into a mouselike foot for crawling through it, we feel, there- fore, that seaweed was once the home of the now mud-loving angler. Perhaps he found it better fish- ing farther down, and lost his lower streamers because he did not need them there. In like manner the embryos of the rays show that they once had the forms of sharks, before they took to lying flat. Many even more striking examples might be cited. Nature makes everything as comfortable as she can in its chosen place ; but she keeps books, and is apt to write the history of a creature's changes in a record of scars and worn-out tatters which show somewhere in life a reminder of better or baser conditions in the past. FIG. 70. The lines of descent in fish. Development of ga- noid forms. FOSSIL FISHES. THE EECOKD IN THE EOCKS. Of the fishes, rather more freely than of any other vertebrates, Nature has kept a record in the rocks. Especially of the bony fishes is this an easy matter, since their forms flatten out so easily, and become pictures of their skeletons in stone. Fishes were always found in the water, and hence were likely to be caught in the mud and formed into the rocks, when the earth itself was in the gristly state of soft clay, before it was hardened into the bones of rock. By no means all fishes, however, as we have seen, had bones to become petrified (converted into stone), but their scales, teeth, and even the sharp toothlike points on the skin, the contents of their digestive tracts, and other little things, often tell what sort of creatures died here. Sometimes the odor of the oil left can be yet recognized. Think of a fos- sil odor millions of years old coming from a fossil grease spot ! "While it can not yet be definitely shown just what was the earliest form of fish which is found in the rocks, it is certain that fishes near-akin to the sharks, sturgeons, and lungfishes were among the earliest, for they are all found away down low. By permission there are presented here pictures (from Le Coiite's Geology) of some very low kinds, which show that fishes were varying very rapidly in those old times, as if Nature were searching for the form that should suit each little niche of the world best. 212 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Now look at that of Fig. 71. It is one of the sturgeon-forms (called Ganoids). It shows evidence of being degraded to a bottom-haunter purely ; for its eyes are close together on top of the head, FIG. 71. Ganoids (Cephalaspis Lyelli}. (After Nicholson. and it is armored with a great bony mantle which has wings that run out and protect the pectoral fins. It appears as if it were on runners and might have pushed itself along the bottom with its tail elevated above. The ventral fins are gone. It was a little fish, and may have had these barbed head -plates to prevent its being easily swallowed tail first. The FIG. 72. Pteraspis restored by Powrie and Lankaster. (After Daw- son.) fish at Fig. 72 seems similarly formed, but appears as if it were shaped to stir up the mud at the bottom. PLATED FORMS. 213 It was very fashionable in those days among fishes to wear great plates for protection. These sturgeon- forms that were so dressed are called Placo-ganoids (plated Ganoids). Note them at Figs. 73 and 74 FIG. 73. Pterychthys restored. (After Traquair.) This form of fish did not seem to be best fitted to last perhaps because these plates became too stiff and heavy for good action. They soon gave way to other fishes with smaller plates ; and, as we have seen, these plates finally give place to scales. In Fig. 73 there is a sort of half-and-half condition indi- cated. Note the early fiipperlike form of the pectoral FIG. 74. Coccosteus decipiens. (After Owen.) fins here, resembling much those of some turtles. It seems not unlikely that from these fishes the reptiles (turtles, lizards, etc.) got their start. Professor Gill states that the Placo-ganoids were the first, and the THE STORY OF THE PISHES. lungfishes were the next; so that the amphibians began along here also somewhere. Here is a very early hint of a sort of bottom-crawling limb. Pos- sibly the lungfishes tended thus strongly to become FIG. 75. Ganoid (Holoptychius noliUssimus) . (After Nicholson.) four-legged by crawling on all fours on the bottom before their offspring, the amphibians, walked ashore ; so also paddle-fins may have had their start. In the next three figures (75, 76, and 77) these paddle-fins FIG. 76. Ganoid (Osteolepis) . (After Nicholson.) are still found, though these fish are quite modern in appearance having all the usual fins, and having tails that are not turned up at the end. These were doubtless akin to the lungfishes. Fig. 78, while yet showing a sturgeon -form, hints much of higher fishes, and has ordinary fins. LIVING RELATIVES. 215 Here also Professor Le Conte has pictured the nearest living kinsfolk of these old-time fishes. Fig. FIG. 77. -Ganoid (Glyptolemm Kinairdii). (After Nicholson.) 79 is the bichir, already noted as a fish (not a lung- fish) which has paddle-fins (sometimes called fringe- FIG. 78. Ganoid (Diplacanthus gracilis). (After Nicholson.) fins) ; Fig. 80 is the bony garfish (a sturgeon -form), and Fig. 81 is the mudfish or bowfin, already alluded FIG. 79. Bichir (Polypterus). to as being on the line between sturgeon-forms and bony fishes. The gar and the bowfin also have quite 216 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. lunglike air-bladders, you remember, and do actually breathe by them. They live now. There are yet living some shark-forms that are much like those of old. All these just described FIG. 80. Garfish ( Lepidoateus). fossils are called Devonian fishes. The lowest sharks had teeth adapted merely for crushing, the next had FIG. 81. American bowfin or mudfish (Amia). teeth which were round and sharp, for piercing or holding, and later, like many alive now, there were FlG. 82. Ganoid (Amblypterus macropterus). READING SHARKS' TEETH. 217 those which had teeth that were flat, and shaped at the point like a surgeon's lance, especially adapted for FIG. 83. Platysonms gibbosus, Permian of Europe. cutting. Thus in their teeth we may read the prog- ress of the sharks away from the bottom of the sea. FIG. 84. Teleost (Beryx Lewesiensis}. There were yet in this and the next two geo- logical periods no bony fishes. Farther upward the tails of the sturgeon -forms begin to straighten a little 218 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. and to run not quite so far into the tail-tin. The lobes of the tail-fin also began to be more nearly equal, and some sharks (Fig. 82) and some sturgeons FIG. 85. Teleost (Osmeroides Mantelli). (Ganoids, Fig. 83) began to show shapes that fit them for muddy-water swimming, Not, however, till we get up to the so-called cretaceous (chalky) period, where lime and bone making matter seemed so abun- FIG. 86. Teleost (Rhombus minimus), a flatfish of the Lower Eocene. dant, do we find the bony fishes. "We evidently have not yet found the earliest of them, for the lower forms and higher forms appear much at the same ENEMIES AND EXTINCTION. 219 time closely associated. Thus the soft-rayed herrings, salmons, and pikes, and the higher spiny -rayed perch- forms (Figs. 84 and 85), some of which live yet to- day, are found in the same rocks. From this on, the bony fishes are more abundant, and in the next age they have assumed all the shapes known to us now. Even distinct genera (divisions) of the flatfishes (Fig. 86) can be recognized. DISEASE AND ENEMIES, ETC. When we note how many different kinds of crea- tures have been exterminated in the past, we won- der what may have been the cause. In a few cases, perhaps, great and sudden changes in the surface of the earth may have deprived fishes of water, or cracks in the bottom of the sea may have let up poisonous gases ; but it is more probable that many creatures grew so much in certain directions that they could not change with the gradual changes of the things around them. Thus those great Placo-ganoids may have kept on getting heavier or stiffer armor, till they became too awkward to catch active prey. Again, new enemies may have arisen which began to prey upon them, or some disease may have set in. Nature holds her balance as much by death as by birth. In this cut of a rock (Fig. 87) you may see that death came long ago to quite a bunch of fishes perhaps from the drying up of a pool. Our modern fishes die of diseases, though they are usually quite healthy creatures. The carp is 16 220 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. known to live two hundred years, and it has been asserted that there are some in Europe that are even six hundred years old. We can not enter upon the subject of the diseases of fishes, unless it be to add that a sort of mildew or fungus sometimes attacks them, and, while yet alive, they decay away in spots much as a potato may rot. Fishes have also many internal parasites, even in the tissues, which may or may not impair their health. -Teleosts (Lebias cephalotes), Miocene. It is stated that there is not a fish known which may not have parasites in the digestive tract, and that on the French coast they all may have them in their blood. It is a subject not very agreeable to think of, and is mentioned only by the author, that his readers may order their smelts, properly dressed, unless they prefer to get more than they call for. The blood parasites are not very formidable. VARIOUS FISHERS. 221 Fishes endure wounds which would tend to be more fatal to higher animals ; and there is much that seems to mean that they do not suffer from them so keenly as we might. Below the fishes, many creatures replace lost parts readily ; and above them the salamanders will grow a new tail, or leg even, if it be lost ; but in the lung- fishes only among fishes can the tail (and not the legs) be regrown if lost. The higher fishes as well as the other higher animals have developed so, that only the tips of the rays and the films between them can be regrown, just as we repair the wear or loss of our nails. This is another hint at the low origin of the lungfishes and the amphibians. While man by continuous fishing has almost ex- terminated some fishes, especially in certain streams and coasts, yet he is by no means their worst enemy. Many birds live solely on fishes. We have noticed how they feed upon each other. Their greatest enemies in Nature are their larger associates. Water snakes catch fishes. Some sea snakes have a poison, which at once relaxes the spines, so that they lie down, thus enabling the fish to be more easi- ly swallowed. Whales, dolphins, and turtles are fish foes. The whale may dash into schools and swal- low hundreds at a gulp. Flying fish often arise at the approach of a vessel which, it is supposed, they mistake for a whale. Among the mammals (besides man) the fish-foes are the seal tribe, the otters, the minks, martens, 222 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. and even the bears, cats, and at times foxes, as we have seen, and the bear's little cousin, the coon. But these last are not expert fishers. Among the birds, fishes find many foes. Near- ly all the water-birds are peculiarly fitted in bill, legs, and toes for pursuing or capturing fishes. Loons, cormorants, some ducks, etc., swim after them under water, using their wings as fins ; herons, cranes, etc., stand in watch, and grasp or spear them as they pass ; gannets, gulls, petrels, and many others, as the king- fisher, throw themselves beak foremost on to them, when near the surface, while the flat-billed ducks, the sandpipers, etc., feed upon the eggs on the bottom and around the edges of streams. The osprey, among the birds of prey, it is well known, seizes the fish with its claws. Even away up on the edge of the highest birds, the water ousels walk on the bottom, eating eggs and seizing the young occasionally. Man's methods of taking fish will form a talk by itself. It has been stated that certain lampreys have been seen clinging to shad and sucking their eggs directly away from them as they swim. TALK XX. How a fish is brought up by hand and helps to feed the nations ; or fish-culture and fisheries. FROM the earliest times of which we know any- thing some interest has been taken in raising fishes in a sort of domestic manner, as we raise hogs or hens. There were fish-ponds among the most ancient Egyptians ; and the Romans developed this industry very largely. They had great vats at their homes, besides large pools at other places. They put up eels to fatten them as we put up pigs, and it is said that occasionally a disobedient or disliked slave was thrown to them, to be suddenly nipped to death by the greedy creatures. But this was not fish-culture as we understand and practice it now. It was rather fish-taming. It is said, however, that the Chinese practiced for ages a sort of fish -rearing that was beyond this ; for they searched for eggs in order to put them in other waters or streams, that the quantity of food might be nearer and more plentiful. To make this easier, they placed rude frames in the water, upon which the fishes might lay their eggs. They thus built a sort of nest for the fish, as we build one for the hens. 223 224 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. By this means the eggs were more certainly obtained and more easily carried. Besides this, they had many other rude implements. The change of spawn from one stream to another was thus kept up in various countries, in a small way, till rather modern times ; but, as a rule, when a pond or stream needed " stocking," they caught the fishes themselves and put them in it, as the old Romans used to do. Either of these methods was tedious on a large scale. It was not until away down in the middle of the eighteenth century that the Germans and the French both about the same time learned how to take the eggs directly from the fish in the great quantities in which they are found. They hatched out these, and allowed the parents to go free to lay more eggs for another season. They pressed the eggs out by the hand at the time when they were ready to issue. In one case this method was first suggested, it is said, by seeing a salmon rub her under side against the heap of stones (usually styled nests) and thus press the eggs out. We have seen that what more largely keeps fishes from being abundant is the loss of the eggs, by their being eaten, being unfertilized, and not being prop- erly situated for hatching. In artificial hatching all the eggs are secured and kept safe, nearly all are hatched, and the young are kept secure from enemies till they are fairly large. There is one enemy of small fishes that has not been mentioned. It has at times greatly annoyed the EGG-HATCHING. 225 fish-culturist. It is that giant water-bug which we so often see dead or stupid under the arc electric lights in our streets. It seizes little fishes, pierces them with its long beak, and sucks the fluids out of them. Doubtless it is rather a good thing for the fishes that man has made himself a better light. Sometimes the eggs may be sent a long way and put directly into the streams, but it is better to have them hatched first. Recently, small fishes are shipped wherever they are needed. Fishes' eggs may be either a long time or a short time in hatching, according to the temperature of the water. They may be started in warmish water and then put into cool water, and the hatching is de- layed for some time just at that stage, without de- stroying the life. In this respect fish eggs differ largely from bird eggs. This peculiarity enables them to be canned, packed in a cool place, and shipped from our Atlantic coast to the Pacific, and the reverse. In this way the shad has been carried out West and dropped into the head waters of the streams. Thence they begin to go downward to the ocean (tail foremost in swift places), and the next and following seasons they come back for spawning ; and they thus become fixed resi- dents. There are, however, different temperatures of water which best suit the hatching of different eggs. We shall not go into that, except to call attention again to the fact that the eggs of salmon families and some others require the water to be not only very 226 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. cool, but it must be constantly in motion and have a great deal of air in it. This accounts for that instinct (which is here perhaps an inherited memory) that drives the salmon far up the elevated streams in which they find such water. It tells us again that their forefathers were rather northern fresh-water fishes, as their cousins, the trouts, are yet. We spoke of the little fish going down stream tail first as it leaves its nursery. This position is neces- sary in rapids, in order that the tail may be ready to leap, dodge, guide, etc. Besides, as we saw, swift water running the wrong way will drown a fish. In this case, however, the traveling is done by floating in the current, the tail merely steering. It could not steer much if it pointed up stream. The tail in this position could certainly help the fish along, how- ever, if it chose to go by it. It has been asserted by a very high authority (Griinther) that a fish can move backward by the use of its pectoral fins only not by its tail. It may be that this is true if the fish is free ; but every angler knows how a hooked fish can pull by flipping its tail when it has its head anchored by a hook and line. It must be admitted, however, that the whole swimming system is much more effective in going for- ward. The author once hooked a ten-inch trout in the dorsal fin, and as it pulled away with its head down it felt as if it were a " ten-pounder" Very fortunately, the fishes more easily raised by hand are those which are good for food, and best suited to our inland streams. Such are the salmons, VALUE OF FISHES. trouts, pikes, shads, carps, basses, breams, and others known as game fishes. The carp is easily reared anywhere, and fattens as a hog. The little goldfishes are carps, originally from China. Of course, where the young are born already hatched it is impossible to increase them by artificial means ; nor is it desirable, since, as a rule, with ex- ceptions, such are not especially good for food. It is impossible here to go into the description of the various kinds of boxes, troughs, cages, ponds, and other things that are used in fish-culture. They are different for different fishes, and are being improved yearly. Fish- culture has grown rapidly since it began and is making great strides yet. Perhaps no country is ahead of our own in this. Not only is the General Government constantly ex- perimenting for the free use of the people, but now nearly every State has its own hatcheries, as these places are called, and there is a special fish commis- sioner, whose business it is to send out little fishes, so long as the supply lasts, to all who ask for them. Unless you live in some fishing town upon the coast or near some large inland canning factory, you are not apt to have an idea or estimate of the great value of fishes as a food and a livelihood. Even many persons dwelling near our rivers make their living catching fish for market. Fishes form a much larger part of the diet of many folk than inland persons are apt to think. A walk through the fish markets of a large city a walk always worth taking will show us much. In many places fishes are decidedly the 228 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. cheapest meat which can be purchased. In no other way can we so well make the waste of waters help to feed the millions of people crowded upon the points of dry land which stick up here and there, as by learning how to get from it fish and similar things for our tables. Some thinking persons fear that the soil will not be able to feed all the people after a while, and one of our hopes lies in getting more from the sea. FISHERIES. This brings us to talk a little of those regions where fishes are found at certain seasons in great abundance called fisheries. We have been com- pelled to refer to them as we came along. Such places have been known in the Old World for ages, and large catches were made by the ancients. The eel-forms, of which the Romans were so fond, were caught in the seas around Sicily and brought to Rome by shiploads. Other kinds of fishes, especially cods and herrings, became the source of great wealth to the various nations. Along the coasts of Scotland, Ireland, England, and France also there are certain great fishing places. The Mediterranean Sea was famous very early, as well as many inland rivers and lakes notably the Sea of Galilee. But we have not space to attempt to outline all the great fisheries of the world, or to give any figures representing their yearly value or the amount of money put in ships and machinery for working them. Nowhere are there found such large fisheries as FISHERIES. 229 those along the northern Atlantic coasts of our own continent, extending from Massachusetts to Labrador. Especially on the banks of Newfoundland are cod- fishes, herrings, and mackerels caught. Nations have gone to war over fisheries, for they have been greedy about them. In less than seven years after Cabot discovered the North Atlan- tic coast and reported its fisheries, the French were sending fishing fleets to it, and the other nations soon followed. By the time at which the French and Indian war began there were as many as one hundred and fifty vessels coming here yearly. France paid bounties to encourage the industry. Now those going there are numbered by many thousands, and the money invested is counted by many, many mil- lions. Besides the cods, herrings, and mackerels caught for food, many other kinds of fishes are sought for other purposes. Thus the Chinese catch sharks for their oil and their skins. The French have their sardine fisheries; hake and ling are caught on the shores of Scotland, while sprat and herring are taken elsewhere around the British Isles. Some fishes are caught purely for bait to lure other fishes, being put upon hooks or cut up into bits and spread upon the water, so that the nets may better get at the feeders. Others, as menhaden, are caught for fertilizers of old worn-out soils. Their dried bodies are ground up fine and sown over the fields. This is another method by which the ocean is made to help the land support the people. 230 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Among our fresh-water fisheries the salmon fish- eries of Maine and those of the great Columbia River of the West are among the best known. In the West, especially, great quantities of salmon are canned yearly and shipped all over the world. In every nation wise laws are enforced to prevent the entire destruction of the fishes. They allow only certain seasons in which to fish, and only certain sizes of fish to be taken. TALK XXI. How a fish is headed off at times and may be taken by hook and by crook at others ; or a few fishing methods. OUR interviews are drawing to a close now. Let us talk this half -hour about the methods employed to capture fishes. We have already spoken of boats being used to go to the fishing grounds, or waters rather, and of course to bring the fish home in. In order to learn much about the management of these boats, this writer advises all his readers to study Mr. Kip- ling's Captains Courageous, which seems to have been written almost as a text-book upon fishing tactics on Newfoundland Banks. The author had evidently made a study of our American fishing fleets and their methods. Fishes are taken either in nets or upon hooks, even in the ocean. But the scheme is much larger than we inland folk ever see it practiced at home. In England they call a trawl a great purse- shaped bag made of strong netting. Perhaps the word stocking-shaped would be better, for with us the old-fashioned purse has disappeared. This net, however, is larger at the mouth than it is farther back. It is supported and kept open by means of a great beam projecting from the ship. The under 231 232 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. edge or lower lip of the mouth often from forty to eighty feet wide drags on the bottom as the ship sails or steams along. This scoops up the fish that are within its reach; they rush back into the bag, FIG. 88. Trawl or bag-net. where there are great side pouches into which they go, in trying to get out. Over the mouths of these pouches are valves or flappers which prevent any return of the captured fish toward the front of the net. The flap- pers easily rise up as the fishes go in, but lie flat as they attempt to come out. The principle is the same as that used in many rat-traps. When the tide is running out, and the fish are going with it, these trawl-nets are frequently fast- ened to the bottom of the ships, instead of to a beam, and are drawn against the course taken by the fish, by which means they are caught and secured as be- fore. When fishes are thus going out with the tide VARIOUS NETS AND SEINES. 233 a seine is also used ; but we speak of that form of net later. Perhaps the most effective method of taking many fishes which are running past in shoals or streams is for the fishermen to get ahead of them, if possible, and drop, in the line of their travel, long deep walls of netting, known as drift-nets. These are buoyed at the surface and have their meshes (spaces between the strings) of that size which suits the kind of fish passing ; for this net takes and holds its captives by allowing them to thrust their heads, and perhaps a little bit of the body only, through the meshes. The gills or front fins then prevent the fish from backing out, and when the net is drawn up the mackerel, her- I"*" r i^ JXJC" '. jjuLi p*g- JEj,"* FIG. 89. Drift- or gill-net at surface. ring, or whatever kind of fish it may be, is sticking in the nets often in great numbers. These are fre- quently called gill-nets, because the fish usually hangs itself by the gills. 234 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. A fish may get terribly tangled in a string. The author had an experience once which sounds so fic- titious and fishy as to be out of place at least out of the range of belief anywhere else except in this connection in a fish-book. Wishing a specimen of the commom " mud-cat " he set a single hook in a little shallow mud-bottom pond, where he knew a school of these fishes lived. Then he went away for a few hours, and on his return homeward drew up his line. What his surprise was you can imagine when there came out with it three fishes and the limb of a tree. One fish was hooked as a decent fish should be, a larger one just above it had the line wrapped twice around its neck and drawn tight into the gills, while above this still a larger one yet had the line three or four times around its body on each side of the pectoral spines, with a turn or two taken around one of the spines itself. The lower fish was dead and had the entire contents of the body cavity eaten out perhaps by a turtle ! the other two were alive but very stupid. It is probable that these fishes approached the bait in a bunch ; that one became hooked, and in its attempt to escape it wrapped the line around its fellows and the bit of brush that lay near. It is the fishes with sharply shaped heads that are apt to be caught in gill -nets. Such fishes swim with greater power and swiftness than others, and drive themselves more strongly against the meshes through which their pointed heads easily make their way. Those usually taken in this way are mackerels, her- FIG. 90. European bream (upper figure). Pilchard (lower figure) IT 236 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. rings, and pilchards. These latter are very common on the coasts of England (see Fig. 90). It is stated that by means of drift-nets " ten thousand hogsheads, containing twenty -five millions of pilchards, have been landed at one port in a single day." In cod -fishing, the gill-net is used on the bottom as well as on the surface. You recall that the little barbel on the cod's lower jaw tells that it is a bottom feeder, and the flatfishes themselves were quite likely FIG. 91. Drift- or gill-net at sea bottom. made out of cod-forms, since their kinship now is so close to them. As hinted, marine fishes are caught with seines also. These are somewhat like drift-nets or great curtains of twine netting. They are of various depths, according to the water, and of lengths that suit the size of the inlet or landing place where they are used. Some are two hundred feet deep and more 238 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. than two miles long. They often have floats made of glass bulbs. They are very expensive when so large. They are set and handled by means of boats, and sometimes special machinery is set on shore to pull them in. They require very favorable shores to make them of special use. There are also some so-called pursed seines, in which the fishes are secured in pockets that lie be- hind the wall of netting. These do not require such great care in landing, but may not, in other re- spects be as effective as the plain seine. Drag-nets are great bags which are drawn between two boats, usually in shallow water. Some seines are FIG. 93. Pulling in purged seine, one end of which is fastened to rock. made fast to the shore at one end, while the other is swung around out into the water, and then drawn in, often by horse or steam power. There is another style of fishing in which the net- FISH TRAPS. 239 ting is not moved but set. It is usually called trap- ping. Pound-nets consist of a single wing or curtain of netting of the same depth as the water, set on the FIG. 94. Pulling in gill-net that is fast at one end. bottom with one end at the shore and the other ex- tending, at an angle with the bank, far out into the water. At this farther end is such a pocket as has been already described. As the fishes swim along near shore they are led off around the wing till they come to the pocket, which they enter, hoping that they have at last got around the obstruction. Sometimes these obstructing wings are made per- manent by being built of stakes, planks, or brush. In this case the wing is called a weir. Weirs are made usually where there is much difference in the level of the water at high and low tide, because when the tide is out they can be easily built. The fyke-net consists of a great funnel-shaped tube or tapering sack, kept open by means of hoops. It also has pockets at the rear end. From it on each TRAWL LINES. side extend great wings of netting, very much as in a quail net. These wings lead such fishes as happen to swim in between them into the pocket. The pound- net is set on the bottom. Besides being used on the coasts, it is, in our inland lakes and rivers, largely the means of supplying the market with fish. In taking the traveling fishes as they run up and down the streams at the spawning season, nothing is more effective than the fishing wheel. It is a large wide wheel, sunk a little way into the water at certain narrow places. It has paddles on it, which cause it to turn slowly .with the current. On its rim there are set dip-mouthed baskets made of strong wire netting, which meet the fish as it swims up stream, lift it up, and dump it, on the other side, into a chute which leads to the shore. Of course, if this be set at a point where all the fishes pass, as they may be made to do by weirs, it will catch them all. It is so deadly that certain limits to its use have been set by law. We shall now glance at the methods of catching fish with hooks, as it is practiced on a large scale by those who fish to live. In America when we say trawls (or trolls) we mean trawl lines and not trawl nets. These lines are set in the ocean, at a length often of three or four thousand feet, and they carry hundreds of other very short lines, upon the end of each of which there is a baited hook. Trawls may be thrown out either from shore or ship. Sometimes they have buoys at certain points and weights at others first one and then the other at THE STORY OF THE FISHES. regular intervals. When cast out, the weights sink, the buoys float, and the line takes a zigzag shape, like this, having the hooks thus set at various depths. FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT FLOAT WEIGHT WEIGHT WEIGHT WEIGHT FIG. 96. Trawl. Much fishing with hooks is done over the side of small craft with lines handled directly by the men in the boats. It is said that the Chinese set barbless, unbaited hooks in the runways of the sturgeon, and that many of the fish catch themselves on these in passing. It would be interesting to follow the development of the fishhook, from a piece of stone tied at the middle to the piece of curved shell, and on to the ter- rible barb of steel which we know so well now. But we shall simply ask the artist to draw for us here a series of these crude forms (see next page). Fishes are often speared as they pass the shallow places in their " runs." A special implement having three sharp barbed prongs is used. It is called a gig. It is a very old means of getting a fish. The ancients represented Neptune their god of the sea as al- ways bearing about one of these three-tined spears with him as a sign of his power over all the swim- ming things. It is in this connection called a " tri- dent," which means a thing having three teeth. One learns to throw these gigs with great accu- VARIOUS HOOKS. 243 racy. Occasionally they may be shot from a gun, but the charge of powder should be very small, not more than one fourth the usual load. Herrings, shads, buf- faloes, suckers, salmons, and pickerels are the more FIG. 97. 1, 2, bone gorges from Swiss lakes (lacustrine) ; 3, stone gorge from valley of the Sonime ; ^, fishhook of boar's tusk from Swiss lakes ; 5, 6, shell hooks from Santa Barbara, Cal. ; 7, 8, bronze wire gorges from Swiss lakes ; 9. double barbed bronze hook (lacustrine); 10, bronze hook. usual kinds so taken. Occasionally fishes are shot as they float, but this is not a very satisfactory method. 244 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Single spears are used also in taking the bottom O L O fishes, such as flounders, soles, turbots, etc. Of course, other crude ways suggest themselves, and have been practiced for ages. The author recalls a pressing invitation from a South Dakota farmer : " Come up in the spring," said he, "and we'll fish for pickerel." " What sort of tackle shall I bring, Billy ? " "Tackle! Why, I always tackle 'em with a club." And it was found, indeed, upon further inquiry, that when in the spring the pickerels ran up into the shallow, narrow little streams of the prairies (which are usually dry in summer), one man in high rubber boots waded noisily in the stream above, while the other stood at some narrow, shallow place and clubbed the fleeing fishes as they passed. A queer kind of fishing is that where one fish is made to catch another. The habit which we have noted as peculiar to the suckfishes or remoras that of fastening themselves on to sharks is used by West Indians and some Eastern nations to capture the latter fish. A string is fastened to the suckfish, and it is let loose in the water. After a while it sticks to a shark, and both are drawn in. It is well known that the Chinese especially train cormorants a diving bird of the pelican group to pursue fish under water and bring them in when cap- tured. A strap is put around the bird's throat, so that it can not swallow the prey. Perhaps, after all, nothing excels in queerness the ROD AND LINE. 245 method of fishing sometimes practiced by the natives of Africa that of digging for fish in dry land. You recall our mention of the habits of certain lungfishes that of burying themselves in a ball of mud, which dries hard around them, forming a case. You will not be surprised, therefore, to learn that at the dry season the people of these regions go over the bottoms of these dry ponds and dig fish as we dig- potatoes or clams. In the same way we might find certain little fishes. FIG. 98. Dragonet (Callyonymus lyra). the gobies, under rocks on eome parts of our Pacific coast after the tide has gone out. Among the gobies is placed the beautiful dragon et. In other places the mud -skippers may be shot, if we choose, as upland game. But the method of methods in fishing, when mere food and a living are not concerned, is that with rod and line. While one may fish thus from a small boat, far out in lake, river, or bay, the sport is at its best 246 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. only when practiced from the banks of a rather small stream. Here it involves something more than dib- bling, where we simply throw in and draw out at random. It means that you should know what sort of fishes are in the stream ; what kind of places they lie around in, or where they go specially to feed ; what things they generally feed on, and what prey they are after the day upon which you are fishing for them ; for a trout leaping at caddis-flies on a certain afternoon is not, on that day, nosing the bottom for " helgramites." It means, therefore, that you should know how deep to sink your line and what bait to use, and even what the color of it should be or what special color is required for a particular time of day. A fish may leap at a brown fly in the sun and refuse it in the shade, or take a red one at noon and a white one only as the twilight comes on. Lures that are " killing " in one creek, nay, iri one pool, may not be noticed in another. With your best knowledge you will often fail. You may try in vain all the lures you know, and yet find a fish hungry and anxiously leap- ing at the sinker inches above your hook. Then, the weather : we have seen how fishes are influenced by the changes of it. Just before storms they are active and feeding, for insects are flying low then, and all else is moving, too. It is a good time to go fishing ; and one must be a weather prophet, at least enough of one to know when the wind is in the east. There are days when fishes are sullen and sim- ply will not bite, even in biting season. The " times " and seasons are something the angler must learn SKILL REQUIRED. 247 learn to feel in his very bones as the fish feels and when he feels that the bass are feeding, or the trout rising, then the desire to angle* for them becomes a passion whose prompting he can scarcely resist. He rushes out and has gone back again in spirit to the times when his forefathers wore the plumes of the savage, and with a sinew or a thong of skin tied to a bent bone or a stone crossbar, snatched the scaly giants from their watery homes. He finds a keen pleasure in matching his human skill against the cunning of the finny tribes, and re- joices in making a slender thread do the work of a cable in tiring out the tyrant of the pools. TALK XXII. A glance over the field and a review of the great groups of the fishes, and some of their subdivisions ; or families, genera, and species. WE saw near the first (in Talk III) that fishes are divided into great groups, and we have been com- pelled to speak of them as so divided ; but now we may show that they are further divided and sub- divided till we get down to some of those species which we may chance to meet in our daily excursions, either in the field or the markets. We recall that in speaking of the great groups we found that the dividing line was that one which lay most nearly in the midst of the averages of all the peculiarities of different fishes. Thus the structure of a great many parts had to be considered. We could not well hold fast to any one trait as common to all fishes in one group. In our division of the sharks from the higher fishes, for instance, it was stated then that shark-forms had the gill -slits uncovered and that all higher forms had them covered. While this is gener- ally true, there is the spookfish (Chimasra), in which the slit is covered by a fold of skin merely, and not by the peculiar bone, which we call the gill-cover, 248 SPOOKFISHES. 249 Likewise the lower jawbone is not hinged as a shark's. But this creature is not a so-called bony fish. It is therefore a connecting link, and the students have felt compelled to put it in a group by itself. It is true of other fishes that, as a rule, part of their traits point to one class or kinship and the rest point to another. Sometimes these different traits are so nicely balanced, that it is very difii- FIG. 99. The pilot fish (Naucrates ductor), upper figure. Spook- fish (Chimsera monstrosa), lower figure. cult to assign the fish to its proper place among its kind. Besides this gill -slit and the jawbone's low style of joint in these spookfishes, they have the peculiar skin, the queer heart, the twisted valves in the lower digest- ive tract, the teeth, the meeting of the eye-nerves, 250 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. the fastening of the gills to the skin, and many other things which seem to point shark ward, but other characters belonging to these fishes are also found among the higher forms only. Scholars differ about which one of these contradicting traits is the most important, and consequently we find many dif- ferent arrangements or classifications. So great is this intergrading of peculiarities that the sturgeon- forms and the bony fishes are not any longer sep- arated by modern students. Thus the squarish (ganoid) scales will no longer distinguish the former. Some fishes have these and the ordinary kind also. The hardness or softness of the skeleton will not even answer ; the garfish is evidently a low sturgeon-form but its skeleton is bony. And so it goes. Still, these great divisions of shark-forms, stur- geon-forms, lungfishes, and bony fishes take in very definitely all the real fishes, except a few on the ragged edges. Sometimes these latter seern just a little more strongly attached to one group than to the other ; and often they appear about to make a group by themselves. It is these things about which the scholars delight to dispute. The author remem- bers that when a child he wondered why all this could not be settled not knowing then that any new fact the finding of a new fish, alive or fossil may compel a change in classification or leave it a thing to be laughed at. "We must not despise the man who pays so much attention to such matters, for we learn of him all we know about classification and structure. The divisions are matters of human judgment. GANOID RELATIONSHIPS. 251 Every great naturalist is apt to have a classification of his own. All are liable to err ; but even their blunders are helpful. Thus our great naturalist, Agassiz, tried to class all fishes by scales alone. The single feature would not hold, for reasons that we have seen ; but he opened the eyes of the thinking world wonderfully, and found a key to the rocks which unlocked a great treasure of knowledge. We have to know something of a fish's history to be sure of its kinship ; and without placing it in its proper group, there would be such confusion of unlike forms that we could not even think intelligently about them. Thus most ganoids (sturgeon-forms) are fossil ; only a few genera are living now. They are thought to form the connecting link between all the other true fishes. This relation is shown in the diagram at page 210. They are thus cousins to them all. Within these great groups are other smaller groups called orders, wherein many having the same forms of internal structure are classed together. This often includes a large number of fishes which differ very much in outside appearance. Under these orders there are certain other smaller groups which are much more alike, and these are known as families. Under these still will be found a number of kinds of fishes which have the same rather more out- ward peculiarities, and these are called genera; while, with still more merely outward resemblances, there comes the last grouping that of a lot of individual or single fishes, all of which are quite alike in every 18 252 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. way except size. These are put into the last division possible, called species. We can go no further in dividing, except to say that any one fish is never exactly like any other one. This is the individual ; and we know no two individual things in Nature that FIG. 100. Lancelot, or Amphi- FIG. 101. Lamprey (Petromyzon oxus (Branchiostoma). Americanus). (LeSueur.) are precisely alike ; even the leaves on a tree differ a little from each other. The lancelet represents all these divisions in itself, there being only the one species. The lam prey -forms have two orders the hag- fishes, and the lampreys proper. Of this last there are two genera (plural of genus, meaning literally kinds) and several species. In the shark-forms there are perhaps only the two orders, so frequently mentioned in this book, the sharks proper and the rays. But several families of each FIG. 102. Hag, or Myxine ma y | )e found even around (Myxinelimosa). (Girard.) AT ,-, A our JN orth American coasts. The important divisions are represented by the Port Jackson shark, found around Australia, which has crushing teeth only ; the great basking sharks, whose teeth are sharp but small ; and the terribly SHARKS AND RAYS. 253 ferocious sharks, the hammer-headed being one of these. Some of the small sharks, with two dorsal fins, and a spine in each, are called dogfishes. The thresher shark and the porbeagles are other mem- bers of this great shark group. Perhaps the most in- teresting member of this division is the frilled shark, a long, eel-shaped, deep - sea kind, which seems to be widely dis- tributed, and a very old form. While by a sci- entist it has never been found having a length of more than seven feet, yet sailors have captured so - called sea - serpents which were twenty-five feet long, and which were quite probably this fish. It is doubtless one of the lowest of living true fishes. Within the shark di- vision (but very like a ray) is the so-called angel-fish, with its pectoral fins, large and winglike. It shows that it lies in between the two orders. We can not stop upon the different kinds of rays, except to note the sawfishes (see Fig. 44), the sting- FlG. 103. Sting-ray (Trygon has- tata). (Storer.) 254 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. rays (see Fig. 103), the electric rays, the sea-devils, and eagle rays all forming this group. The skates differ from the rays in having rather a thick tail, two dorsal fins, and the shape squarer. Skates do not have spines on their tails, and rays do not have two dorsal fins sometimes none at all. As noted, the Chinw&rcB or spookfishes form a group to themselves. As you may see by the cut (Fig. 99) they are very peculiar, seeming to lie be- tween the sharks and the lung-fishes. The lungfishes have two orders, as they were originally divided, but since there are known only three species of these fishes now living, we scarcely think of them as forming O orders. The Lepidosiren is found in Brazil. Its body is rather eel- like, and its fins are mere fleshy threads. FIG. 104 -Lepidosiren. j t bag evident ] y been degraded, and has four gill-arches. Close akin to it (in the same order) is the Protopterus of the Nile region of Africa. Its limbs also are threadlike, and the body is much like an eel's, but it has six gill -arches. The Australian lungfish (Ceratodus) has broad, useful fins with scales upon them, and a bone run- ning lengthwise through them. It is the oldest form, and consequently the nearest to the original kind. STURGEON-FORMS. 255 In fact, it is a remnant left over from those periods of the long-ago, before our coal was formed in the earth. It more closely resembles the bony fishes than either of the other two which are newer. These last, espe- cially Lepidosiren, are very close to the amphibians. By wiggling in the mud, however, they have almost lost their limbs. Ceratodus has been placed in a dif- ferent order from the other two, but there is a tend- ency now to put all these into one order. All have FIG. 105. The paddlefish (Scaphirhynchops platyrrliynchus), under view above. hearts chambered very much as are those of the salamanders. Among the sturgeon-forms there are a great many orders, if we should include those found fossil in the rocks. Of those living now in our waters there are the paddlefish, with its long snout, much like a duck's bill ; the garfish or garpike, with its long jaws, so terribly armed with teeth ; the bowfins, with their 256 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. peculiar degraded gills and lunglike air-bladder ; and the sturgeons proper, with their sharp, soft, snoutlike mouths and gristly skeletons. These are our Eastern United States kinds. Of the bony fishes proper there are now living, the world over, great numbers of orders and families. These are the fishes which we meet and use for food, mostly, and which we pursue for recreation. They are the typical, highest expression of the finny form. Dr. Jordan, in his manual of the vertebrates one x/of the most useful books any Nature-lover can own notes thirteen orders, seventy -three families, over two hundred genera, and about four hundred and forty species of fishes, which may be found in the waters of our Eastern United States coasts and rivers. Many of these are unimportant, however. There are really only about twenty families which are noted as food and game fishes. A list and description of these can be found in the next talk. TALK XXIII. Some finny friends worth knowing and how to know them ; or twenty-five families of familiar fishes, and a key. THIS talk is somewhat in the form of an appendix, and is for reference at any time, even later in life, whenever it may be needed. Before starting on the descriptions the reader had better review the location, arrangement, and shape of the fins found at pages 29-38, since fishes are distin- guished so largely by these. The dorsal and anal, it will be recalled, are often divided. The front part may be all rays, all spines, or part rays and part spines ; the spines always before the rays. The rear part may or may not be widely separate from the front part, and it may consist of a few spines and some soft rays, or it may be all spines or all soft rays (rarely). There is usually one spine at least in it, if it is separated from the other part. The anal fin may be similar to the dorsal, but it is not so often referred to. In describing these, abbreviations are usual, but we shall use figures instead of words, and the letter S. for spines and R. for rays. D. dorsal ; A. = anal ; Y. = ventral ; P. = pectoral. The expressions of the number and arrangement of the fins, spines, rays, etc., is called the " fin-formula." 257 258 THE STORY OF THE PISHES. Our little sunfish is thus described : D. 9 S., 10 R. ; A. 3 S., 10 R. This shows that the whole fin has 9 spines and 10 rays, but that they are not separated. If there were separate parts, a long dash is put between, thus 9 S. 10 R., etc. In the codfish, where both fins are divided, the fin formula for D. is : D. 14 R. 21 R. 19 R. ; and for anal it is : A. 20 R. 18 R. This shows at a glance the arrangement of the fins, and often distinguishes a fish independent of color or size. Thus we see that cods have the dorsal fin in three parts, the anal in two, and all are soft-rayed no spines. The following twenty-five families represent the usual food and game fishes of the Eastern United States, both in the fresh-water streams and lakes and in the waters of our coasts. If the reader wishes to identify any of the com- mon fishes of the field or market, the whole list of families can be looked over ; but a little study of the key at the end will lead directly to the family under which the more important species are distinguished. The numbers in the key refer to the numbers of the families, which follow : 1. THE STURGEON FAMILY (Accipenseridce). Body long; snout projecting ; toothless; four barbels; head with bony plates ; tail unevenly lobed ; body covered with five rows of shields having ridges on them. Only one, the sturgeon, is really a food fish. 2. The CATFISH FAMILY (Siluridce). Our United States forms have body naked ; skin slick and slimy ; eyes small ; head broad, low, flat ; mouth wide ; many 260 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. barbels ; teeth in bands ; sharp, strong spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins ; eye small and sly-looking. All our kinds have a fat-fin near the tail on top. Species. If there are teeth elsewhere than on the jaws, the fish is one of the two great "sea-cats" found on our FIG. 107. Catfish (Silurus giants). coasts. The " topsail," so called, has only two barbels on the chin, while the sea-cat has four. If there are teeth on the jaws and, nowhere else, the fish is one of our " river cats." They are popu- larly distinguished as " channel cats " and " mud cats." The former has the tail much forked, the latter scarcely or slightly so. The white or silver " channel cat " is good food, and worthy of any angler's steel as a game fish. All are frequently taken at night by setting trot lines across a stream, with a fringe of low- SUCKERS, ETC. 261 sunk hooks dangling from them. In the East they are often called pouts, especially one species. 3. SUCKERS, BUFFALOES, ETC. (CatostomidcB). Body scaly, a little high and quite stout at the shoul- ders ; head naked, no barbels ; mouth small, sometimes almost round, as if suited for sucking merely ; no teeth on jaws ; no spines in dorsal ; no fat-fins ; air-bladder, a long sac, as if tied in one or two places. Lateral line often imperfect or none. In the buffalo group and in the " black horse " or Missouri sucker, the scales are large, and the dorsal fin has more than twenty rays. In the fine-scaled suckers there are less than twenty rays. These latter include the common suckers, " stone-toters," the " red- horse," and so-called " mullets." These last two have the air-bladder tied (constricted) twice, while in the sucker it is tied only once. All are found in our inland creeks and rivers, run- ning up at early spring to spawn. They are often shot as they u float," or speared as they pass the "riffles." They take the hook shyly, and are poor food, except for occasional baking ; but they are often avoided on account of the great number of forked bones. 4. MOON-EYES (Hyodontidce). Body oblong; scales large and silvery ; lateral line plain ; air-bladder a simple sac, not tied ; belly with a sort of keel or sharp ridge ; mouth at end of snout, rather cut downward. Rays of tail, about thirty-two ; those of dorsal, nine to twelve. 262 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. The single species of interest in this family is sometimes called "silver bass," or "toothed herring," but perhaps " moon-eye " is the more common name. It is plentiful in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley. It is of a greenish-yellow color, with silvery sides. Fin-formula : D. 12 R. ; A. 28 E. 5. TARPUMS (Elopidce). Scales immense, bril- liant and metallic in the tarpums ; smaller in ten- pounder ; mouth large, and cleft to or beyond the eye ; lower jaw prominent, and having a bony plate beneath it ; a fat eyelid ; eye large. Fins of tarpum, D. 12 R. ; A. 20 R. Fins of ten-pounder, D. 20 R. ; A. 13 R. These are found around and near our Florida coast, and are much sought after by so-called sportsmen, simply to kill for the mere enjoyment of killing. They are not good for food, but are gamy, active, arid difficult to " land " or bring into the boat. The cap- ture of one seems to satisfy wonderfully the destruc- tive instincts of the average angler. 6. HERRINGS, SHADS, ETC. (Clupeidce). Body slim, beautifully shaped for speed ; scaly, with head naked ; teeth almost wholly wanting ; tail slender and much forked ; no lateral line ; dorsal fin not larger than the anal. Except in one case the belly is sharp- edged and " saw-toothed." Species. There are many species. In the round herring the belly is round and smooth ; in the common her- ring the " saw-teeth " on the belly are faint and there SALMONS, TROUTS, ETC. 263 are some teeth on the front part of the roof of the mouth (D. 18 E. ; A. 17 E.). In the ale wife, summer herring, shads, and some others the saw-teeth on the body are strong and there are no teeth on the front of the roof of the mouth. The gizzard-shad has the last raj of the dorsal fin run out into a long thread (D. 12 K. ; A. 31 K.). All others except the thread-herring (D. 19 R. ; A. 24 R.) have the dorsal ordinary. The shads may be known from the ale wife and herrings by having about sixty scales in the lateral line, while the others have about fifty. The former are also deeper-bodied. The men- haden has the anal and dorsal of the same number of rays (19), the dorsal small and far back, and the free edges of the scales are rough and grooved. In the shad the dorsal is nearer to the snout than to the tail. Of course, the gizzard-shad's fowl-like stomach and low mouth easily distinguish it. It is the only herring-form that combines a low mouth, a long fila- ment, and twelve rays in the dorsal. The herring family is a useful one at home in the sea, but running up fresh water to spawn. They are at certain times and places excellent food. 7. SALMONS, TROUTS, ETC. (Salmonidce). Body long, trout-shaped ; head pointed ; mouth tending to be a little low ; barbels none ; a fat-fin behind dorsal ; dorsal near middle of body; lateral line plain; tail forked ; belly round, sometimes flattish in front ; ver- tical fins rather short (Fig. 108). These are among the gamiest and most toothsome of fishes, giving the angler all the exercise of cun- 264 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. ning and skill in hooking and landing them, and re- warding him well for his pains by their excellent flavor and freedom from troublesome bones. They are widely distributed in lakes, rivers, and small streams largely northern cool-water lovers. FIG. 108. Eainbow trout (Salmo iridens.) On Southern coasts many speckled fishes are called trout which do not belong in this family. /Species. The whitefishes, ciscoes, etc., of the Great Lakes have jaws nearly toothless, and have large scales. Color quite whitish. All others of this group have teeth, and the scales are small or apparently wanting (in some trouts). The grayling is distinguished by having about twenty rays in the dorsal ; all the others have scarcely more than half so many. The ciscoes and lake herring PIKES OR PICKERELS. 265 (so called) may be known from whitefish by having the lower jaw longer than the upper. The salmons and trouts have teeth on the tongue and not so many as twenty rays in the dorsal. If the front part of the roof of the mouth be flat, the fish is a salmon ; if it have a ridge projecting -downward, it is a trout. Lake-trout spotted with gray ; brook trout spotted with red. These spots are all below lateral line in the true brook trout ; in the Kangely Lake forms, the spots extend up above the lateral line. 8. SMELTS (Argentinidce) are usually placed in a family to themselves, but they are really little salmon- forms, with a peculiar saclike stomach, which has the two openings for the entrance and exit of the food almost against each other. No other distinction ex- cept size when grown can be made. 9. THE PIKES OR PICKERELS (Esocidce). Body quite long, a little deeper than wide ; scales small ; lateral line not complete ; mouth very large, terribly armed with unequal teeth ; the lower jaw noticeably the longer ; head scaly on sides, but naked on top ; air-bladder present. Species. There is only one genus containing five species in America. The pike or great northern pickerel has only half the gill-cover scaly, while the muskellunges have the gill-covers scaleless or naked. Both are really the sharks of the fresh waters, preying upon any living thing that they can swallow. Like the salmon-forms, they are especially attracted 266 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. by a moving object. They are often lured in this way, biting readily at a revolving piece of bright metal, called a "spoon," as it is towed behind a boat. They are abundant in the lakes and streams of the North and Northeast. 10. EELS (Anguillidce). Body snakelike ; vertical fins long, running out upon the tail ; scales small or FIG. 109. Eel. not apparent ; lateral line evident ; ventral fins want- ing ; mouth large and toothed. Easily recognized ; very fat and tender. A prejudice against their form prevents their use as food by many persons, though they are not at all akin to snakes. * 11. MULLETS (MugilidcB). Body oblong ; scales large ; mouth small with nearly no teeth ; lateral line gone ; dorsal in two parts, with four spines in front part ; anal fin with two or three spines. The striped mullet has dark stripes lengthwise ; the white mullet is without stripes. n 12. MACKERELS, ETC. (ScombridcB). Body long, much higher than broad ; head sharp, tapering from * It seems fairly well established now that the blood of eels injected into the tissues of other animals is as fatally poisonous as snake-venom. MACKERELS. 267 above and below ; month opening wide, cut far back ; gill-slit noticeably large (as is usual in swift fishes) ; dorsal fin in two parts, with a series of tinlets (in all of ours) behind on the tail-stem ; finlets behind anal fin also ; stem of tail very slim ; the fin deeply forked, with lobes very long ; colors bluish, steely, splendid ; ventral fins nearly as far forward as the pectorals. FIG. 110. Mackerel (Scomber scombrus). Species. The common mackerel has only five finlets. All our other forms have seven or more. It has also no corselet or collar of scales, like a mantle about the neck, as have all the others. The fins are D. 11 S. 12 R 5 finlets ; anal 12 R 5 finlets. The Spanish mackerel is even slimmer, longer, with tail lobes more slender and deeply forked. D. 18 S. 17 R 9 finlets; A. 2 S. 18 R 8 finlets. The kind of bonito found with us is four feet 19 268 THE STORY OP THE FISHES. long. D. 21 S., 1 R. 13 R. 7 finlets ; A. 2 S. 13 R. 7 finlets. FIG. 111. Tunny, or horse mackerel (Orcynus tliynnus). The tunny is of immense size, often ten feet long, sometimes fifteen. It may be known by its size, but the fins are D. 14 S. 1 S., 12 R 8 finlets ; A. 2S. 12 R. 8 finlets. 13. POMPANOS (Carangidce). In this family are some forms sometimes called " mackerels," but they are of smaller account than the true mackerels. The one of curious interest is the pilot-fish (Fig. 99), which is so often associated with the shark and others. It is bluish with six dark distinct vertical bars ; no finlets. The scad of our coasts is bluish with ten or twelve dark spots on the side usually well forward. It has a single finlet above and below, giving it a formula D. 8 S. 1 R. 30 R. 1 finlet ; A. 2 S. 24 R. 1 finlet. The " yellow mackerel " is yellow with a black, rough edged spot on the gill -cover, and it has scutes or large scales along the lateral line ; no finlets. The pompano of our coasts is bluish without having the sides marked with black. Its pectorals are short and not bent or scythe-shaped as are those of the others BLUEFISH. 269 noted ; anal fin very much like the soft part of the dorsal. Anal has 22 R. ; dorsal, 25 E. In the rud- der-fish the anal is shorter than the soft dorsal. Anal has 21 K. ; dorsal, 38 R. (see Fig. 2, page 5). The cavalla resembles the pompano, but has pec- torals scythe-shaped, and 8 spines in dorsal instead of 6 as in the pompano. 14. BLUEFISHES (Pomafomidce). This family has with us the well-known bluefish only. It is bluish with silvery-white under parts ; a black spot on the under side of the pectoral fin ; spines of the dorsal very weak ; the stem of the tail is thicker than that of the mackerels. 15. SUNFISHES OR PoNDFisHES (CentrarchidcB). Body quite oblong, much higher than wide, the depth being nearly half the length ; body outline curved below and above about alike, as in a pumpkin seed ; lateral line present, often much bent upward near the front ; scales rather large ; mouth at the end of the head, which tapers about the same from above and below ; gill - cover ending at rear in a soft membranous point, shaped like a small finger- nail or scale (see Fig. 1, page 2). These are often called perch (or more frequently " pee-yurch " in the Southwest), to which family they are akin, but from which they may easily be distin- guished by having always more than two spines in the anal fin. Perches have only one or two. Sunfishes are all gamy, active, plucky little fellows, great ex- plorers of unknown waters, always ready to colonize any pond or lake, skipping almost across lots. 270 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Many are small and insignificant, yet always beau- tiful ; but such as the crappies (or bachelors), the so-called breams, the grass-bass, the big-mouthed and little-mouthed basses usually styled black basses all of our inland warm streams, furnish some of the best food and most exhilarating angling. The equal-finned group includes the crappie and the grass- (or calico-) bass. These have a dorsal fin which extends along the body but a little more than the anal. Both are greenish-silvery, with darker green spots or mottlings, varying with the season. The grass-bass has the back of its neck not humped or swelled. Fins, D. 7 S., 15 K. ; A. 6 S., 17 R. Mottlings quite green. The crappie is decidedly humped on the back of the head or neck. Fins, D. 6 S., 15 R ; A. 6 S., 17 R. Mottlings dark green. While the other may have seven spines in the dorsal, the crappie rarely if ever has so many. No finer pan fish swims, according to the writer's taste. In the unequal-finned division there are, first, those with the tongue toothless and the body very short and deep. These are the true inland sunfishes. (You recall that there is a large " stump-tailed'- ocean fish with that name also.) They are all fine biters and good to eat, though tedious to catch and clean. The author has caught them in the lakes of the plains at the rate of one a minute. Among those with body short and teeth on the tongue are found the red-eyed breams or goggle-eyes. One has fins' thus : D. 11 S., 10 R. ; A. 6 S., 10 R. It is often called the rock-bass. The other, which is FIG. 112. Big-mouthed black bass (Micropterus salmoides), upper fig- ure. Little-mouthed black bass (Micropterus dolomiei), lower figure. 272 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. the red-eyed bream proper, usually lias only three spines in the anal and nine rays. The European bream belongs to a different family. Among those with short bodies and no teeth on the tongue there are such common and important kinds as (1) have the fins red or orange somewhere^ as the green sunfish. It has body green and brassy ; blue spot on scales, with the edges of scales golden ; fins blue and orange. The long-eared sunfish is yellowish-green ; spots on scales blue ; head in front of eye striped with bluish ; lower fins with much red. The common sun- fish is also yellowish-green, with the sides largely mottled with blue ; lower fins almost entirely orange ; dorsal blue, with orange spots. (2) The kinds without red on fins : The blue sun- fish has no red on the fins ; the spines are very high ; grown fishes not spotted or marked ; color, pale yel- lowish-green, darker in places. In all those already noted the body is nearly half as deep as it is long. In the black basses the depth is only about one third of the length. In the others the dorsal fin is rather straight on the top edge, but in the basses it is very noticeably notched between the spines and soft rays. Fins, D. 10 S., 13 K. ; A. 3 S., 10 E. (see Fig. 112). In the large-mouthed black bass the mouth is very large ; there are apt to be eleven soft rays in the anal fin, and it is said that " the ninth spine of the dorsal is not half so long as the longest spine." In the small -mouthed black bass there are apt to PERCHES. 273 be only ten soft rajs in the anal, the mouth is very small, and the ninth spine of dorsal is half as long as the longest. To the angler who has seen both, the open mouth distinguishes them at a glance. No gamier fish abides than these black basses, be- ing the people's fishes that come to them in what are almost domestic waters, making a line spin and a pole hum, and provoking all the cunning and skill of the most experienced angler. The small -mouthed is rather the favorite. 16. PERCHES (proper) (Percidce). Body longer and slimmer than in sunfishes in fact, rather round ; the gill-cover ends in a sort of spine, instead of a soft, membranous flap, as in the sunfishes ; dorsal fin, sepa- rated ; spines of first part, from six to fifteen ; anal spines one or two, never three ; ventrals (placed under pectorals) have one spine and five rays. A large part of the family in the United States is made up of the darters little things, never more than four inches long, sometimes only an inch and a half. They may be distinguished from the other little fishes, such as minnows, chubs, shiners, etc. (except stickle- backs), by having spines in the vertical fins, and from the sticklebacks by having no free spines (i. e., not connected with the rest of the fin). These darters are distinguished from all other perches by not having the bone on the gill -cover strongly saw-toothed on its rear edge. In the larger and more important perches this bone is strongly saw- toothed. They are : (1) The common yellow perch : D. 13 S. 1 S., 274 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. 14 E. ; A. 2 S., 7 R. ; body rather oblong ; golden- yellow, banded with dark rings. FIG. 113. White perch (Eoccus Americanus), upper figure. Yellow perch (Perm Americana), lower figure. (2) The pike- perch or wall-eyed pike (so called) : D. 13 S. 1 S., 21 R. ; A. 2 S., 12 R. ; body long, slimmer, pikelike ; greenish-yellow, mottled with brassy places ; the fins and tail mottled. It is some- times called " jack-salmon " in the Southwest. (3) The sand-pike or sauger : D. 13 S. 1 S., 18 R. : A, 25 12 R. ; body long, salmonlike, gray, with SEA-BASSES. 275 dark blotches ; a large rough- edged spot on the part of pectorals next the body. None of these fishes is near akin to either sal- mons or pikes. 17. THE SEA-BASSES (Serranidce). Body long ; mouth large ; teeth on front part of the roof of the mouth ; gill-cover armed with spines the bone on it saw-toothed ; spines in anals of one species three ; anal quite short in extent along the body. There is first a group in which the dorsal lin is deeply notched. In the " white-perch " and " yellow- perch " (so called) the parts are entirely separated. The white-bass has the teeth on the base of the tongue in one patch ; body silvery -green above, striped faintly with darker : D. 9 S. 1 S., 14 E. ; A. 3, S. 12 R. The yellow-bass has the teeth same as the 'last; body more or quite brassy with seven very plain Hack stripes. The so-called " white-perch " has a similar arrange- ment of the teeth, but sides silvery ; not marked. Fin in this and the last : D. 9 S. 1 S., 12 R. ; A. 3 S., 9 R. The celebrated striped -bass has the teeth on the rear part of the tongue in two patches ; body greenish- silvery, with about eight very distinct black stripes. It may be known from the yellow-bass, which is likewise beautifully striped, by noticing that in the former the parts of the dorsal tin are entirely sepa- rate, while in the latter the parts are evidently joined at the base. 276 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. In the black sea-bass the dorsal fin is all in one piece, no spine appearing in second part ; the spines have threadlike ends running from them ; body dusky and mottled ; white spots on dorsal : D. 10 S., 11 K. ; A. 3 S, 7 E. 18. SNAPPERS AND PORGIES (Sparidce). Body oblong, much elevated and thickened forward, mak- ing the fish appear hump-shouldered ; lateral line present, unbroken ; bone on gill-cover often toothed ; anal spines 3 ; dorsal spines 8 to 13. Air-bladder present; one species with a crest or ridge on the head. (1) Some have teeth on the front part of the roof of the mouth. Among these are the snappers and the rudder-fish. The former have some red about them. The gray snapper is mostly green, with red below only, and the anal fin round on edge ; the red snapper is mostly red with anal fin pointed and pro- jecting near the middle. The rudder-fish has no red about it. ' It has D. 12 S., 12 K. ; while the others each have D. 10 S., 14 K. (2) All the rest have no teeth on front roof of mouth ; no red. The pigfish has the bone on gill- cover saw-toothed ; sides gray, streaked with a series of yellow spots. D. 12 S., 16 E. The penfish or bream (Lagodon Rhomboides of Linnaeus so many fishes are called breams) is silvery with the sides striped with blue and yellow or golden, and barred faintly with six blackish bands : D. 12 S., HE. The sheepshead is plain gray, with seven very DRUMS, WEAKFISHES, ETC. 277 black and quite broad bars (crosswise) (D. 12 S., 11 K.) also, but no yellowish or golden. The porgy is gray, with purplish places, the sides silvery ; no markings except in very young : D. 12 S., 12 K. 19. DRUMS, WEAKFISHES, ETC. (Scioenidw). Body stout, rather long and ordinary ; head scaly ; lateral line running clear out on tail-fin ; dorsal almost cut in two ; the soft rear part with twenty to thirtv rays; not more than two spines in anal fin; dorsal spines nine or ten, the fin quite divided. The white weakfish and the silver whiting are silvery without spots, streaks, or bars ; snouts short and blunt. The first has the anal 2 S., 9 E. ; the second A. 1 S., 9 R. ; snout sticking far out. All the rest of the family are dotted or streaked in some way. The weakfish proper has the body brownish, with wavy streaks of separate spots; fins not spotted ; no scales on soft parts of dorsal and anal. The spotted weakfish is dark and silver with many plain spots on back and back fins : A. 1 S., 10 R. The yellow-tail is a silver color slightly tinged with greenish, having many fine points or dots on the body and fins. The lower fins are yellow as well as the tail : A. 2 S., 9 R. The so-called " channel bass " (Sdc&na ocellata) is a silvery gray with wavy 'brown streaks; yellow and black on tail. When this fish (which may grow to four feet) is the size of the last (which is grown at nine inches) it has saw-teeth on the bone attached to the gill-cover, while the other never has. The " spot " of this same genus is a small 278 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. fish known by its bluish color and fifteen bars that run over it obliquely. The croaker is grayish silvery with wavy streaks on sides, but it is distinguished from the weakfish by having barbels on the lower jaw. The whiting and barb are marked with oblique bands or bars, but are distinguished from the " spot " by having a single stout barbel on lower jaw : Anal 1 S., 7 or 8 R. The whiting has no black on the lower lobe or tail -fin while the barb has. This last has a great black blotch on the back of the neck shaped like a barb. It is dusky gray with distinct oblique bars. The whiting is lighter gray with very faint oblique bars. All these others have had fine sharp teeth ; but the drums have coarse blunt teeth set like stones in a pavement. The great ocean -drum is four feet long at its best, and has many barbels on the lower jaw. The fresh-water drum with numerous other names (sheepshead, white perch, etc.) has no barbels ; it is two feet long. The teeth distinguish all of them with- out the aid of color. 20. HADDOCK OR ROSEFISH (Scorpcenidce). Head with spiny ridges ; spiny points or warts on gill-cover ; dorsal unbroken, with fourteen spines ; sides and top of head scaly (see Fig. 39, page 81). We have only one of these in our waters. It is orange-red, with some dark about the gills. Sometimes they are found brown, but never with any markings or silvery whitish, as in sea-basses, etc. SCULPINS. 279 21. SCULPINS (Oottidce). Body never wholly scaly, sometimes naked and warty ; anal sometimes without spines (usual anal has one spine when dorsals are spiny). Pectorals broad, high on sides ; ventrals low on the throat narrow (see Fig. 46, page 104). FIG. 114. Haddock (Metanogrammus cegelfinus), upper figure on right. Whiting (Merangus vulgaris), upper figure on left. Cod (Gadus morrhua), two lower figures. The important species are the sea-raven and the sculpin. Each has top of head rough or ridgy. The first is brown, blotched, and waved with black. Dorsal of 16 S., 13 R, very long. The sculpin is brown with 280 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. dark bars, the fins marked with black : D. 10 S., 17 K. One spine and three rays in ventral.* . FIG. 115. Sea-raven or deep-sea sculpin (Hemitripterus hispidus). 22. CODFISH, HAKES, ETC. (GadidcB). Body long; vertical fins very extensive, with no spines, and sep- arated once, sometimes twice ; chin with barbels in all , genera except one ; air-bladder present ; scales small (see Fig. 114, page 279). In the four-bearded rockling the dorsal is divided, but the first part has only one ray in front, somewhat like a spine in shape ; but the rest of this part is a mere fringe, with no rays apparent. All the other fishes have very apparent rays in the first part of the dorsal. In the cusk the dorsal is * The flying gurnard (Cephalacanthus volitans), the plain gurnards (Prionotus), and the sculpin (Hemitripterus ameri- canus) are often called " flying-fish," but only the first can fly imperfectly. CODFISHES. 281 single, D. 98 K. A. 71. In the codlings or hakes, and in the ling, the dorsal is in two parts. The squirrel-hake and white hake have filaments of rays extending beyond the dorsal fin. Both have a barbel on chin, and not more than three faint rays in the ventral fins, but the former is inclined to be finely dotted on rather large scales, the latter plain with small unmarked scales. Fins of either, D. 9 R. 57 R. ; . A. 48 to 50. Anal undivided, of course. In the ling or burbot there are more than three rays in the ventral fins. Vertical fins, D. 13 R. 76 R. ; A. 68 R. In all the foregoing with dorsal in two parts the lower jaw does not project, and it has a barbel on it. But in the silver-hake or "whiting" (so called) the lower jaw is longer than the upper, and there is no barbel'on the chin : D. 13 R. 41 R. ; A. 40 R. All the rest of the important cod -forms have the dorsal fin in three parts and the anal fins in two. In these the pollock only has the lower jaw the longest, the barbel faint : D. 13 R. 22 R. 20 R. ; A. 25 R. 20 R. In the true cod, the tomcod, and haddock, the upper jaw is longest. The haddock has the front part of the dorsal high and sharp-pointed, the edge incurved (concave), while in the true codfish it is not pointed and the edge is rounded outward (convex). In the tomcod the body is dotted with fine points, while in the others the markings are large. None of the cods are brilliant or strongly marked ; the general color is brown with dark mottlings or blotches. This is a well-known family of food fishes, the dried and 282 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. salted codfish making nearly every small store, the country over, smell as if it were a hide -ho use. 23. FLATFISHES (Pleuronectidce). Body oblong, flattened ; one side colored, other not ; both eyes on upper side, as fish swims or rests ; the vertical fins long, forming a sort of fringe nearly all around the body. Unlike as the two families may appear, their internal structure shows the flatfishes and the cod- fishes to be close akin (see Fig. 11, page 24:). The flounder-forms are distinguished by the edge of gill -cover being not covered by scales. In some cases the lateral line is not distorted or arched up. This is so in the Greenland halibut and the w r inter flounder. In the former, besides its great size (often beyond four feet), the mouth is not much twisted, and the dorsal soft rays are about 100, the anal rays about 75. In the winter flounder the mouth is much twisted out of place and the fins are D. 65 R. A. 48 R. In the others (of importance) the lateral line is distorted, arched, or curved upward toward the back edge, especially in front. In the great halibut (not the Greenland) and in the rusty dab the eyes are on the right side. In the former the mouth is not twisted much. The fins : D. about 100 E. ; A. about 80 R. ; length often six feet. In the dab the mouth is much twisted or out of place ; size, about two feet ; D. about 85 II. ; A. about 60 li. In the so-called summer flounders the eyes are on the left side. The four-spotted flounder has four large, very plain, dark spots with the edges pinkish. The summer flounder proper has some markings and FLATFISHES. 283 similar large spots faintly indicated. The southern flounder is a dark yellowish green, with almost no markings at all. FIG. 116. Frogfish or angler (Lophius piscatorius). 20 284 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Our only sole has the gill-cover scaled so as to hide the edge of it, and is thus distinguished from flounders. It has no pectoral fins worth noting, and the ventrals are so merged into the anal as not to be easily distin- guished. The curious little tongue-fish has the ventral of the upper side only present and separate. Of course, such curious fishes as the (24) REMOKAS (see Fig. 60, page 189), the (25) FROGFISH-FORMS, ETC., FIG. 117. Toadfish (Batrachm taw). are known by their sucking disks on the head, the gills behind the pectorals, etc. Here follows a little key that in the most artifi- cial way leads to the families just described. KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF FAMILIAR FISHES. If the character which is peculiar to your fish is not found at one letter, go on to the place where the letter is doubled, and you will find the opposite characters affirmed. Then turn back to the number to which you are finally led, and under the family the species will be found described, if it be a fish of much importance. A. Eyes both on the same side; body flat, fringed nearly all around with fin-rays ; one side colored, other nearly white ; fish lies and swims on side. (This is one of the) FLATFISHES (23). - A A. Eyes not both on same side. B. Top of head with flat place a sucking disk. (This is, etc.) SUCKING-FISHES (24). BB. Top of head without sucking disk. C. Gill-openings behind pectoral fins ; these fins shaped as if they had stems. FROGFISHES (25). CO. Gill-openings in front of ordinary pectorals. (This in- cludes many fishes of the usual kinds.) D. Body long and snakelike ; no ventral fins. (It is one of the) EELS (10). DD. Body not snakelike ; ventrals present. E. Five rows of bony plates on body ; on back a row of finlets ; snout long and toothless ; skeleton gristly. STURGEON (1). 285 286 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. EE. Not five rows of plates ; body scaly or naked. F. Body naked and smooth ; head flat, blunt quite wide ; mouth very wide barbels about it. CATFISHES (2). FF. Body not naked, but always wholly or partly scaly. (I) No Spines in the Fins. (If there are spines, go on to II.) G. Ventrals well forward, under or in front of the pectorals ; Dorsal fins very long, or in two or more parts. CODFISHES (22). GG. Ventrals not under or front of pectorals ; usually well to- ward the rear. H. A single fat- (or rayless) fin near the tail on the back. SALMONS (7). HH. No fat-fins anywhere. J. A bony plate under the lower jaw ; scales very brilliant. TARPUMS (5). JJ. No bony plate under jaw. K. Lateral line none; belly usually sharp and saw- toothed ; mouth almost or wholly toothless. HERRINGS (6). KK. Lateral line present, wholly or in part. L. Lateral line very plain ; belly with sharp ridge ; teeth on the tongue. MOON-EYES (4). LL. Lateral line faint or broken or extending only part of the way along the body. M. Body rather oblong; mouth small; no teeth on jaws. SUCKERS (3). MM. Body slim ; mouth large ; large teeth every- where. PIKES (9). KEY TO FAMILIES. 287 (II) Spines always present in Fins, N. Lateral line absent ; four spines in dorsal. MULLETS (11). NN. Lateral line present and 0. Running out on tail-fin rays. DRUMS (19). 00. Not running out on tail-fin. P. Body never wholly scaly ; sometimes warty. SCULPLNS (21). PP. Body always wholly scaly. Q. At least five finlets on tail-stem above and below, behind other vertical fins ; jaws not beak-shaped. MACKERELS (12). QQ. Not five finlets anywhere. R. Spines in front edge of anal fin never more than two ; sometimes none. (If more than two, go on to RR.) S. Soft rays in the anal fin never more than twenty. PERCHES (16). SS. Soft rays of anal finalways more than twenty. T. Teeth all weak and small. POMPANOS (13). TT. Teeth unequal, many of them large and set backward. BLUEFISH (14). RR. Spines in front edge of anal always more than two. U. Gill-cover armed with spines either on the edge or surface. V. Body red or brown, unmarked ; spines on surface of gill-cover. HADDOCK (20). VV. Body never brown or red, either silvery or striped ; flat spines on edge of gill-cover. SEA-BASSES (17). 288 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. UU. Gill-cover not armed or spiny, but W. Round and hard on rear edge. SNAPPERS (18). WW. Not round but angled on rear edge, with a membranous flap or ex- tension at the bend. Common SUNFISHES (15). INDEX. ACCIPENSARID.E, 258. ^Estivation, 155, 156. Affections, 171, 182. Agassiz and scales, 58, 59. Age, 189. Air-bladder, 12, 69, 132, 137, 139, 146, 148, 152. Air-spaces, 146, 150, 152. Air-swallowing, 126. Alewife, 263. Alligator-fish, 60. Altitude and haunt, 164. Amoeba, 205. Amphibians, 15, 128, 131, 132, 143, 146, 148, 255. Amphibious fishes, 149, 155. Amphipnous, 152. Anabas, 151. Anableps, 71. Anal-fin, 37. Anchoring, 40, 46, 151. (See Sea- horse, Gobies, etc.) Anchoring eggs, 173. Angel-fish, 44, 253. Angler, 27, 41, 54, 73, 117, 168, 187, 209. eggs of, 174. ANGUILLID.E, 266. Antennarius, 175. Argentinidae, 265. Armor, 99, 212. Arteries, 132, 134. Artificial hatching, 224. Ascidians, 148. Backbone, 11, 15, 148, 192, 194. Balance, 46, 137, 139, 190. Barb, 278. Barbels, 66, 67, 75, 94, 97, 187, 260. Barred perch, 93. Basking shark, 187, 252. Bass, channel, 297. (See Black, Striped, etc.) Batfish, 41,43. Beak, 84, 97, 186. Beard, 88. Beauty variable, 86. Belly, sharp and toothed, 262. Bergylt, 82. Bichir, 198, 202, 215. Billfish, 97. Birds, as enemies, 222. Black bass, 154, 165, 177, 270, 272. Black swallower, 1 23. Blennies, 151. Blind fishes, 75, 167; in caves, 88; and color, 94. Blood, 125, 133, 184. Blood-vessels, 126, 132, 144, 145, 190, 194. Bluefish, 38, 104, 187, 269. 290 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Body-cavity, 38, 39, 120, 131, 172. Bones, 83, 139, 192, 196, 197. Bone in air-bladder, 139. Bonito, 267. Bony fishes, 16. 51, 59, 129, 138, 153, 172, 189, 193, 199, 256. Born fishes, 189. Bottlefish, 123. Bowfin, 144, 199; cut at 216. Brain, 204. Bread-basket, 191. Bream, 38, 269, 276. Breastbone, 198. Breathing, 68, 125, 130, 149, 150. (See Respiration.) Brook-trout, 165, 265. Buffaloes, 158, 175, 261. Burbot, 66, 281. Burying self, 153-155. Cffical appendages, 123. Csecal stomach, 121, 122. Calico bass, 270. Callichthys, 126. Calls, 70, 183. Capture, 260, 266. CARANGID^E, 268. Care of young and eggs, 177, 189. Carps, 57, 67, 118, 189. chewing, 185; ear of, 69; thaw- ing, 153. Catfish, 36, 66, 88, 107, 110, 113, 154, 155, 165, 177, 178,180, 286; family, 259; nest, 174; tongue- less, 119; voice of, 139. CATOSTOMID.E, 261. Caudal-fin. 33. (See Tail-fin.) Cavalla, 269. Cave fishes, 167. Cement nest, 175. CENTRARCHID^E, 269. Ceratodos, 144, 254. Channel bass, 277. Charming, 86, 181. Chimara, 129, 248, 254. Chubs, 67, 95, 120, 174. Cilia, 130, 131. Circulation, 125, 132, 133, 144, 145, 152. Ciscoes, 264. Classification, 16, 21, 35, 52, 118, 133, 210, 248. Climbing perch, 151. CLUPID.E, 262. Codfish, 36, 40, 66, 124, 140, 148, 259, 286. family, 280. Codfishing, 236. Cold blood, 134. Color, 8, 26, 88. arrangement, 91. changes, 94. of flesh, 91. and light, 88. markings, 91. protection, 91. Colorless or white fishes, 88. Connecting links, 20, 249. Co-operation, 170. Corals as food, 186. Cormorants as fishers, 244. COTTIIXE, 278. Courting, 70, 86, 181. (See Charm- ing, Display, Play, etc.) Crappie, 165, 270. Crawling fishes, 71. Croaker, 278. Crossing divides, 162. Cruelty, 188. Ctenoid scales, 62. Cusk, 280. (See Sand-cusk.) Cutlass, 31. Cycloid scales, 61. Darter, 189, 273. Death, 123, 140, 180, 187. INDEX. 291 Defense, 123. (See Armor, Weap- ons, etc.) Definition, 14. Deep-sea fishes, 75, 88, 98, 123, 166. shark, 283. Degeneration, 132-1 39, 140, 148, 150, 201, 202, 204, 256. Dermal bones, 64. Descriptions, 258. Devil-fish, 102. Digestive tract, 120, 125, 138, 143. breathing by, 125. Digging fishes, 156, 245. Dipnoi, 147. Diseases, 219. Display of ornament, 87, 180. Dissections, 114. Distribution, 160. Dogfish, 253. Dorsal fin, 36, 37. Double eye, 71, 72. Drag-nets, 238. Dragonet, 73, 245. Drift-net, 233. Drowning fishes, 130. Drums, 277, 287. Drying up of fishes, 153. Ear, 68 ; and air-bladder, 69, 137. Ear-bones, 196. Eels, 44, 56, 68, 101, 129, 143, 153, 156, 266, 285. blood poisonous, 266. domesticated, 223. electrical, 110, 112. Electric eel, 110, 112. batteries, 110, 135. conditions of air and fish, 156, 157. ray, 111, 254. Egg, 56, 113, 162, 171; as a topic, 173, 177, 189, 223. Egg-laying, 158. (See Spawning, and Care of Eggs.) Eggs in capsules, 178. ELOPID.E, 262. Enamel on scales, 57. Endurance, 135. Enemies, 91, 113, 158, 173, 219 225. Energy offish, 135, 184. Embryology, 34, 50, 57, 69, 126, 139, 153, 189, 205, 209. Escape, 91, 95, 150. ESOCID^E, 265. Expression, 79. Exoskeleton, 55. Eye, 7, 28, 70, 76, 190, 282 ; origin of, 76. spots, 75. lid, 70. expression of, 78, 79. Families of fishes, 251-259. Fasting, 185. Fat-fins, 36, 263. lids, 71. Fat-storing, 124, 185. Fatty spots, 75, 89. Feeding, 7, 67, 72, 75, 80, 84, 107, 119, 123, 141, 154,156, 165-168, 184, 185. Feelers, 40, 41. Feeling light, 76. Fierasfers, 36, 168. Fighting, 87, 100, 174-177. Filaments, 84, 87, 94, 263. Finlets, 36, 38, 267. Fins, 29, 200-202, 213; absence of, 40; and beauty, 85 ; cutting off, 48 ; edges of, 46 ; formula? of, 259 ; footlike, 40 ; growth of, 50 ; leg- like, 148, 149 ; names of, 32 ; ori- gin, 35, 50 ; paired, 39 ; position of, 41; rays of, 197; structure 292 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. of, 50 ; uses of, 48 ; vertical fins, 34. Fish-culture, 223. Fisheries, 13, 228. Fishing-frog, 168. wheel, 241. Fish-ponds, 223. Filefish, 118. Flatfishes, 26, 29, 73, 94, 140, 156, 281, 285. Flesh, color of, 113. Flounder, 93, 282. Flying, 13. fish, 95, 120, 279. gurnard, 279. Fly-shooter, 188. Food, 157, 179, 184; and stomach, 122; and color, 113. Force, 184. Forkbeard, 40, 79. Form, 1, 23; and defense, 102, 254. Fossil fishes, 50-58, 61, 81, 118, 122, 160, 211, 251. Fox-shark, 33, 106. Freezing, 153. Fresh-water fishes, 154, 161, 185. Frilled shark, 253. Fringe-fins, 202, 215. Fringed gill, 128. Frogfishes, 41, 43, 108, 284, 285. Fyke-net, 239. GADID.E, 280. Ganoids, 18. 212. Ganoid scales, 61, 250. Garfish, 61, 84, 142, 143, 250. Garpike, 61, 84, 142, 143, 250. Genera, 251. Giant waterbug, 225, 256. Gills, 6, 15, 41, 119, 126-129, 131, 133, 150, 191; loss of, 136; use of, 187 ; position of, 33. Gill-arches, 128, 254. covers, 105, 108, 109, 128, 129, 248, 265, 273. fringes, 150. nets, 233, 236. opening, 33, 128, 249. slit, 33, 128, 249. sacs, 152, 153 ; surface, 150, 152. tufts, 126, 127, 205. Gizzard-shad, 186, 263. Gizzard-like stomach, 122. Glands, 64. Globefish, 85, 110, 118, 123. Gobies, 40, 94, 151, 245. Goggle- eye, 270. Goldfish, 141, 185, 227. Grass-bass, 270. Grayling, 264. Gray snapper, 276. Great weever, 40. Ground-fish, 186. Growth, 188, 189. Guiding instinct, 168, 169. Gullet, 10, 120, 130 ; and air-bladder, 137 ; 140-146. Gurnards, 60, 140, 279. (See Sea- robin, Flying Gurnard.) Habits, 4, 13, 80 ; and shape, 26, 67 ; and escape, 95, 114 ; and loss of parts, 140, 143, 166, 168, 174, 187, 199. Haddock, 278, 281, 287. Hagfish, 68, 130, 187; and mucus, 98 ; and tongue, 118 ; egg, 173. Hair-fin, 26, 31, 54. Hairlike fringe, 88. Hakes, 117, 229, 280. Half-fishes, 20. Halibut, 282. Hammerhead shark, 73, 252. Hatching, 35, 126, 134, 139, 153, 172, 178, 180, 189, 205, 225. INDEX. 293 Haunt, 13, 163, 164, 174. Head, 7, 20, 27, 78, 195 ; bony out- side. 60 ; warty, 61 ; scaled or not, 60. Head-fishes, 27, 31, 38, 90. Heat, 135 ; endurance of, 154. Heart, 11, 126, 132,255. Herring, 25, 33, 78, 262, 286. Hibernation, 153. Hiding, 95, 186. (See Escape, Pro- tective Colors, etc.) ' Homes, 4, 13, 157, 163, 164. Homing instinct, 168. Horn and horns, 80, 102, 103. Horny teeth, 177, 178. Huxley and shark-teeth, 118. HYODONTID.E, 261. Identification, 259. Incubation, 189. Inside a fish, 114. Intelligence, 181. Isinglass, 148. Jack-salmon, 274. Jaws, 9, 28, 82; hinging of, 196, 249 ; as weapons, 101. John Doree, 54, 140. Jointed backbone, 193. Key to families, 285. Lancelet, 21, 56, 69, 76, 81, 131-138, 193, 195, 203, 205, 252. Lake herring, 264. Lake trout, 265. Lampreys, 20, 56, 68, 69 ; tongue of, 119, 130, 138 ; egg of, 173, 195, 198, 203, 224, 252. Lateral line, 10, 70, 97, 261. Leaping falls, 158. Le Conte's figures, 211 et seq. Lepidosiren, 145, 254. Life, 184, 204. Limbs, 39, 200, 204. Ling, 229, 280. Lips, 82. Liver, 124, 185. Loach, 66 ; ear of, 69. Lurnpsuckers, 61, 174. Lung-fishes (see Dipnoi), 18, 68, 127, 136, 144, 146, 149, 152, 193, 201, 214, 245, 254. Lungs, 128, 132-137, 144, 145, 152. evolution of, 146. Mackerels, 31, 36, 60, 62, 86, 135, 140, 177, 266, 287. Man as an enemy, 113. Mantle, 60, 267. Mates, 70. Menhaden, 229, 263. Mennon, 189. Migration, 157. Mildew, 220. Milk of fishes, 179. Miller's-thumb, 174. Milt, 172. Mimicry-in form, 94. Motion, 1, 31-39, 40-48, 96, 130, 148, 150, 225, 226. Moonfish, 27, 38, 90. Mooneye, 261, 286. Mouth, 7, 79, 84, 180, 188; as a home, 168 ; as a weapon, 100. Mucus, 5, 65, 89, 97, 107, 116, 155, 179. Mudfish, 144. Mudskippers, 43 (cut), 71, 73, 150, 187, 245. MUGILID.E, 266. Mullets, 37, 87, 266, 287. Muscles, 131, 139, 202. Muscle-force, 184. Muskellunge, 265. 294 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Naked skins, 56, 211. Neck, 12. Nests, 6, 13, 73, 174; as topic, 181. Nets, 231 et seq. Nerves, 12, 70, 98, 99, 111, 203. of eyes, 76, 77. of taste, 68. Nervous energy, 135, 184. Nictitating membrane, 70. Nose, nostrils, 7, 68. Notochord, 193,199. Orders, 251, 256. Organs, 152. Origin of fishes, 159, 226. Ornaments, 54, 71, 83, 181. (See Color, Filaments, etc.) Oxygen, 125, 132, 136. Paddlefish, 85. Paired fins, 39, 45, 48 ; use of, when forward, 75. Pairing for life, 182. Palate, 68. Parasites, 120, 186, 219. Parasitic fish, 159, 167, 180. Parrot- wrasse, 117. Parts of a fish, 22. Paths, 175. Pearl-spots, 75. Pectoral fins, 33, 41, 52, 96, 102, 190, 200. " Pee-yurch," 269. Penfish, 276. Perch, 269, 287 ; family, 273. Perch -forms, 79. PERCIDJD, 273. Pharynx, 10, 119, 180. Phosphorescence, 75, 88, 98. Pickerel, 154, 265. Pigfish, 276. Pikes, 83, 117, 265, 286. Pike-perch, 274. Pilchards, 236. Pilot-fish, 166, 268. Pipe-fishes, 37, 94, 128, 178. Placo-ganoids, 213, 219. Plaice, 94. Plates, 56-59, 213, 259; used as teeth, 117. Play, 180, 181. PLEURONECTID^E, 281. Pocket for young, 178. Poise, 46. (See Balance.) Poisonous weapons, 97, 107, 108. flesh, 113. Pollacks, 281. POMAFOMID.E, 269. Pompano, 2(i8, 287. Pondfish, 269. Porcupine-fish, 59, 85. Pores, 97, 131. (See Lateral Line.) Porgy, 277. Port Jackson shark, 252. Pouches for egg and young, 178. Pound-net, 239. Pouts, 261. Pi-otopterus, 145, 155, 254. Psychology, 183. Pulsating bulbs, 132, 133. Pursed seines, 238. Raining fishes, 161. Rangely Luke trout, 265. Rays of the shark-forms, 31, 34, 45, 73, 80, 107; electric, 111, 129, 141, 187, 209, 253 (cut), of fins, 12, 50, 55. Red snapper, 276. Regrowing lost parts, 53, 221. Remora, 159, 244, 284. Repair, 53, 221. Reptiles, 132, 146. Respiration, 6, 125, 143, 146. Ribbon-fish, 26. Ribs, 198. INDEX. 295 Ring-and-staple joint of spines, 54. Rock-bass, 270. Rockling, 280. Roe. (See Eggs, 172.) Sand-cusk, 35, 66, 153. Sand-perch, 153. Sand-pike, 274. Salmons, 36, 83, 118, 122, 158 ; forms, 164, 174; family, 263, 286. SALMOXID.K, 263. Sauger, 274. Sawfish, 28, 102, 116, 253, 268. Scad, 268. Scales, 5, 55 ; classification by, 61 ; beauty of, 85 ; origin of, 56 ; ar- rangement, 63, 251. Schools, 180. Sci.ENIIKfi, 277. SCOMBKID/E, 266. ScORP.ENIDiE, 278. Sculpins, 106, 287, 278. Scutes, 58, 60. Sea-cucumber as host for fierasfer, 168. Sea, original home of fishes, 160. bass, 287. fishes, 158,160, 185. horse, 34, 46, 178, 179. porcupine, 106. raven, 280. robin, 54, 60, 140, 279. Seaweed homes, 166. Seeing, 70. Seine, 236. Senses, 7, 8, 64. Serpent-head, 174. SERRANID^E, 275. Sewing fishes. 175. Sex, 86, 172, 178. Shad, 26. Shading of body, 92. Shagreen, 58, 118. Sharks, 70, 80, 127, 133, 136, 141, 166, 180, 187, 193, 199, 244, 253 ; fins of, 38 ; scales of, 57 ; spines of, 53. Shark- forms, 19, 128, 138, 173, 196, 201, 252. Sheepshead, 276. Shoals and fishes, 165, 170, 180. Shooting prey, 188. Shoulder-joint, 201, 202. Sight, 76. SlLURID.E, 250. Silver hake, 281. Siphonal stomach, 121, 122. Size, 188, 253, 265 ; of eye, 73, 75. Skates, 31, 44, 254. Skeleton, 18, 19, 55, 116, 197, 199. Skin, 8, 64, 97; as a builder, 55; breathing by, 131 ; extending over eyes, 70 ; color of 86 ; covering of, 8 ; spines on, 60, 61. " Skin-bones," 195. Skull, 64, 195. Sleep, 73, 153, 156. Snappers, 276, 287. Smell, 68. Smelts, 122, 265. Snout, 29, 72. Social feelings, 171. Sole, 282. Song, 183. " Sounds," 148. Spanish mackerel, 267. SPARIDJS, 276. Spawning, 158, 171, 172, 177. Species, 252, 256. Speed, 4, 34, 78. Spookfish, 88, 129, 193, 248, 254. " Spot," 277. Spinal column, 197, 198, 204. Spinal marrow, 194, 204. 296 THE STORY OF THE FISHES. Spines, 12, 30, 36, 50, 59, 105, 117 ; on scales, 59 ; fastening of, 54 ; how hinged, 54 ; barbed, 107 ; grooved or hollow, 108 ; on tail, 107, 254. Spoon, 266. Squirrel-hake, 280. Stargazer, 73. Stickleback, 37, 94, 105, 174, 177, 189. Sting-ray, 253, 254. Stomach, 10, 26, 52, 100, 120, 121, 265. Stone-toter, 174. Storing fat, 124. Striped bass, 275. Sturgeon, 180, 193, 285. Sturgeon-forms, 18, 58, 127, 138, 141-144, 212, 255, 259. Sturgeon family, 259. Style of a fish, 78. Suckers, 158, 187, 261, 286. Suckfish, 159, 244, 285. Sucking disks, 37, 40. (See Remo- ras, Gobies, etc.) Sunfishes (fresh- water), 27, 161, 164, 175 ; family, 269, 287 ; of the sea, 90. Surgeons, 107. Swallow-tail, 120. Swellfish, 59, 123. Swim-bladder, 137. (See Air-blad- der.) Swordfish, 28, 40, 85, 102, 137. SYMBRANCHID^E, 152. Tail, 30, 198, 199; bent up, 33; prehensile, 44; as weapon, 106. Tail-fin, 37, 45, 87, 199. Tarpums, 262, 286. Taste, 67, 119. Tear-glands, 71. Teeth, 9, 58, 101, 116, 217, 278. Tentacles, 187, 209. (See Bar- bels.) Terrifying, 84, 103, 106. Thayer, Abbott H., 93. Threadtish, 30. Thresher (shark), 33, 106, 253. Throat, 120. Thunder and fishes, 157. Toadfish, 174, 284. Tomcod, 281. Tongue, 118 ; and taste, 68. Tongue-fish, 284. Toothed scales, 63. Torpedo, 111, 112. Touch, 65. Traps and trapping, 239. Travel, 225, 226. Trawl-nets, 231. lines, 241. Trolls, 241. Trout, 86, 187. Trumpet-fish, 79, 84. Trunk-fish, 59. Tunny, 198 (cut, 268). Turbot, 34, 35, 103. Unicorn-fish, 103. Unpaired fins, 33, 34. Upland fishes, 126, 157. Vent, 40. Ventral fins, 33, 39, 48, 52, 178. Vertebra, 15, 193, 196, 204. Vertical fins, 32. Vestiges, 171, 205, 254. Voice, 70, 139, 140, 183. Walking fishes, 39. Warts, 60. Weakfish, 277. Weapons, 9, 83, 85, 100. Weather and fishes, 156. INDEX. Weever, great, 110. Weirs, 239. White-bass, 275. Whitefish, 264. Whiting, 278. White perch, 275. Worms, 203, 205. Wounds, healing, 221. Wrasses, 67, 82, 174. Yolk of egg, 190. Young fishes, 6, 34, 57, 73, 97, 134, 172, 181, 189, 193, 205 ; care of, 168, 177 ; scales on, 63. Yellow-bass, 275. " Yellow mackerel," 268. Yellow perch, 273. Yellow-tail, 277. THE END. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED BIOLOGY LIBRARY TEL. NO. 642-2532 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. NOV10197? Nfftf - ft 1Q79 &'% LJ ^ 3 51973 LD2lA-6m-3,'72 (Qll738lO)476-A-32 General Library University of California Berkeley U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 304779 BIOLOGY 1JBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY