Puffing and hissing at an approaching intruder.]
The CHAMÆLEONS differ in so many important structural points from the
ordinary lizards that they are usually regarded now by scientists as a
distinct reptilian sub-order. The essential characters, externally
recognisable, that serve to distinguish the chamæleons are:--Firstly, the
extraordinary development of their worm-like extensile tongue, the tip of
it club-shaped and highly viscous, and the shaft cylindrical and as elastic
in texture as india-rubber. Adapted for the special object of catching
flies, this organ can be projected from the mouth to a distance of 6 or 8
inches or more with lightning-like rapidity, and rarely misses its quarry.
Comparing small things with great, the chamæleon's tongue and its action
might be likened to a schoolboy's popgun, having its pellet secured to the
barrel by a long elastic ligament. Presuming further that the pellet is
covered with a viscid secretion such as bird-lime, and that the object shot
at is hit and brought back to the shooter's pocket by virtue of the
ligament's intrinsic elasticity, we have an almost veritable replica of the
chamæleon's fly-catching apparatus. The second remarkable structural
peculiarity of the chamæleon is the independent relationship of the two
eyes. The eyes themselves are unlike those of any other lizards; they are
large, prominent, skin-covered cones, perforated only at their extreme apex
for the minute pupil-opening: while one eye may be fixed on an object in
front of it, the other may be rolling around in search of a second quarry.
This independent capacity of vision, while peculiar among reptiles to the
chamæleon, is common to many fishes, such as blennies and flat-fishes. A
third anomaly in the chamæleon's structure is the character of the feet;
these resemble those of a parrot, the toes being bound together in two
opposable bundles. In the fore foot the inner bundle contains three and the
outer one two toes only, while in the hind foot the order of their
amalgamation is precisely reversed. In either case these feet subserve, as
in parrots and other perching-birds, as most effective organs for
maintaining a close grip upon the tree-branches among which they habitually
live. The tail of the chamæleon is, finally, highly prehensile, and, as
with the New World monkeys, constitutes a veritable fifth hand, wherewith
to ensure it against falling off its perch.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
COMMON CHAMELEON OF SOUTH EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA.
A minute or more is often occupied by the chamæleon in making a single
forward step.]
The colour-changing properties of the chamæleon have been the subject of
enthusiastic but in many instances exaggerated descriptions from the
earliest times. As a matter of fact there are other lizard species which
share this kaleidoscopic property to an equal or even greater degree. The
Indian tree-geckos, referred to on a previous page, as also the calotes
from the same region, are cases in point. Chamæleons are undoubtedly
possessed of marvellous colour-changing faculties, and it would appear to
be scarcely in all instances, as is more usually represented, a case of
adapting themselves to the tints of their environment. The assumption of
leaf-green, grey, brown, reddish, or yellowish tints, in accordance with
their surroundings, is the ordinary record. Some examples which formed the
subjects of the writer's experiments exhibited, however, interesting
deviations from the beaten track. Male individuals, in particular, were
observed to assume tints and decorative patterns that rendered them
remarkably conspicuous objects, in spite of their leafy environment. The
normal ground-colour of these specimens in full daylight was so dark a
green that it might be almost characterised as black. Upon this were
superimposed lines and spottings of strongly contrasting tints. The more
dominant of these was a brilliant orange, that was distributed in bold
lines along the head and cheeks, and formed a radiating pattern on the
skin-covered eye-cones: The same colour formed somewhat broken-up bars
across all four limbs, and was dispersed in bold spots over the entire
remaining body-surface: along the tail these spots were concentrated in
threes, giving it a semi-barred appearance. All among these orange limb-
and body-spottings were distributed a secondary series of somewhat smaller
spots, the tint of which was a pale but very brilliant emerald-green. This
chamæleon asleep at night was a very different animal. The ground-colour
was transformed from almost black to a bright grass-green. The orange lines
became lighter in colour and broken up into patches; many of the orange
spots on the body disappeared, but those remaining were of larger size and
concentrated in threes in two lines along each side, these triple spots
enclosing centrally a larger elongated spot or patch of bright pink or
puce. The bright emerald-green secondary spots, as seen in daylight, were
almost white. If handled during the daytime, the chamæleon was wont to
assume a colour nearly identical with his night garb; the two lines of pink
patches, previously invisible, would appear, and, while the orange spotting
remained constant, the emerald-green changed to lemon-yellow.
A chamæleon in a rage is a decidedly grotesque object. The back is arched,
the body and more especially the throat-pouch are inflated to their fullest
extent, the mouth is opened, the eyes roll, and the creature rocks itself
to and fro and hisses in a most threatening manner. When, as often happens,
it also simultaneously sits up on its haunches, the effect is doubtless as
terrifying as it is intended to be to a rival chamæleon or any small animal
which may venture to approach it. A number of other lizards, including
tree-climbing varieties, were introduced to the company of the examples
under observation, and until friendly acquaintanceship had been established
their advances towards the chamæleons were always repelled.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
A CHAMÆLEON SHOOTING OUT ITS TONGUE TO CAPTURE A FLY.
The tongue is capable of extension to a length of no less than 7 or 8
inches.]
[Illustration: _Photo by C. M. Martin_] [_Beckenham._
A PHOTOGRAPH OF A CHAMÆLEON IN THE ACT OF CATCHING A BUTTERFLY.
The inflated extremity of the tongue is highly glutinous.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
THE TUATERA OF NEW ZEALAND.
Belongs to an ancient reptile race of which it is the only living
survivor.]
The majority of the chamæleons lay eggs, but a small number produce living
young, as with skinks and other lizards. Examples of the common European
and North African species kept by the writer excavated holes in the earth,
in which they laid their eggs, and then carefully covered them up again.
Unfortunately these eggs were not fertilised. One South African species has
been reported to the writer as being in the habit of placing and separately
wrapping and fastening up each egg as deposited in the leaves of the tree
in which it resided. While Africa and Madagascar represent the head centres
of distribution of the fifty odd known species of chamæleons, they enter
Europe through the Spanish Peninsula, and extend eastward to Arabia, India,
and Ceylon. The largest known variety, which inhabits Madagascar, attains a
length of 15 inches; the smallest pygmy chamæleon of the Cape scarcely
measures 2½ inches.
THE TUATERA.
That singular reptile found on certain small islands lying to the
north-east of New Zealand, and known as the TUATERA, differs in so many
structural characters from all other lizards that it is assigned to a
separate order. Externally the tuatera does not differ materially in form
from an ordinary lizard. The skin, however, is peculiar for its leathery,
granulated, and wrinkled texture; there is no trace of external ears; the
eyes, adapted for nocturnal vision, have in daylight vertical pupils; and
the bases of the toes are united by connecting webs. The deeper internal
characteristics include the possession of supplementary so-called abdominal
ribs, the presence of which are readily apprehended on handling the living
animal. These structures, while absent in ordinary lizards, find their near
equivalent in the breastplate of tortoises and turtles. The teeth are not
implanted in distinct sockets, but attached to the summits of the jaws,
which are developed in a beak-like manner, and in older individuals fulfil,
after the manner of a beak, the functions of the worn-out incisor teeth.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
A TAME TUATERA.
Is a great acquisition for a greenhouse, feeding on slugs, beetles, and all
noxious insects.]
Tuateras have been exceedingly scarce of recent years, and in view of their
scientific interest, and the risk of their possible extinction, are now
protected by the New Zealand Government. Among the multitudinous gifts of
which their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales were
recipients during their recently accomplished world-embracing tour, a pair
of living tuatera lizards formed one of the most singular and highly prized
contributions accepted from the loyal New Zealanders.
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
DARK GREEN SNAKE.
A native of Italy and other countries bordering the Mediterranean.
Accredited with a particularly fierce disposition.]
----
CHAPTER V.
_SNAKES._
The characteristic contour of a snake's body is too familiar to need
elaborate description; its leading features are, in fact, so nearly
approximated by certain of the legless lizards, previously described, that
the distinctions between the two can with difficulty be defined. Many of
the snake-like lizards, including the Common Blind-worm, are altogether
devoid of external limbs. In some snakes, on the other hand, and notably
the large terrestrial Pythons, a spur-like development on each side of the
base of the tail represents rudimentary hind legs. The Snakes agree
essentially with the Lizards in the character of their scaly covering, the
scales, however, being larger on their under-surface and specially adapted,
as in the legless lizards, for creeping locomotion. The essential
distinctions between the two groups have to be sought in the structure of
the head. The most notable of these, as it obtains in the Snakes, is the
very loose manner in which all the bones connected with the jaws are held
together, thus providing for the greatest possible distension in the act of
their swallowing their prey whole, as is the custom of all ordinary snakes.
To achieve this end, the two halves of the lower jaw are not united
together at their extremity or chin, as in lizards, but are merely
connected with one another by an elastic ligament. In most snakes the bones
of the upper jaw and palate are also attached to one another in a similar
way.
The eyes of a snake differ in a very marked manner from those of ordinary
lizards. No snake possesses movable eyelids. The eye, in compensation, is
protected by a transparent horny disk, continuous with the general
epidermis, and is shed with it when the snake casts its skin. This feature
imparts to snakes that fixed, stony expression of the eyes which
undoubtedly contributes very materially towards increasing the feeling of
repulsion with which snakes are commonly regarded. A few exceptional
lizards, such as the Geckos, have a similar eye-construction, but it is not
met with in any of the limbless or snake-like forms. No snakes, again, show
any trace of external ear-openings, such structures, on the other hand,
being distinctly developed in almost all lizards. The head itself of the
snake is never compressed or elevated, as in most lizards, but flattened
down and usually wider than the body, to which, however, it is united
without a distinct neck. The tongue of the snake is slender, and terminates
in two long, thread-like points; basally it is inserted into a hollow
sheath, into or out of which the entire organ can be retracted or exserted
at will. The somewhat uncanny, flickering action with which a snake, while
moving, displays and as it were feels its way with its long, forked tongue
represents another element which adds to the disfavour with which these
reptiles are commonly regarded. Among the uneducated even at the present
day it is not unusual to hear the tongue, with reference to its peculiar
shape and vibrating action, pronounced to be the seat and instrument of the
animal's poisonous properties. The swift, silent, stealthy, gliding motions
with which, apart from any visible organs of locomotion, a snake slides, as
it were, along the ground and over all obstacles fill to the brink the
measure for its condemnation in the estimation of all but the snake-devotee
or the naturalist.
The locomotion of the snake is, as a matter of fact, one of the most
remarkable and beautifully contrived phenomena in animal mechanics. The
peculiarly jointed and abnormally mobile ribs constitute the mystic _deus
ex machinâ_ by which the reptile accomplishes its migration. These ribs
articulate in pairs by a single mobile head with their respective segment
of the vertebral column. At their opposite extremity they impinge on and
are in muscular connection with the broad, slightly overlapping,
shield-like scales which clothe the under surface of the body. The
rib-muscles, contracting in rhythmical succession, raise the free
overlapping edges of the shield-like scales, which, striking against the
ground in the same regular order, push the body forward. Adopting an easily
comprehensible simile, the snake's body is carried along the ground on the
same principle as a paddle-wheel steamer is pushed along the surface of the
water, the paddle-boards in the case of the snake being affixed to a long,
narrow plane instead of a circular wheel.
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
DARK GREEN SNAKE.
Closely allied to the rat-snake of India, and preys in a similar manner on
rats, mice, and birds.]
The poison-fangs of snakes are highly specialised structures, and their
presence or otherwise was formerly considered sufficiently distinctive for
the separation of these reptiles into two sharply defined natural series.
More recent investigations have, however, shown that such a system of
classification is entirely artificial, both venomous and harmless species
occurring among groups which are related to one another by essential
structural characters. The teeth in the ordinary or harmless snakes are
usually represented by two rows of slender, recurved, sharply pointed teeth
in the upper jaw, and a single row of a similar character in the lower one.
This recurved character of the dentition effectively assists the snake in
gorging its quarry whole, nothing once seized by the hook-like teeth having
a chance of retreating, the snake itself being unable to eject the prey
upon which the teeth have fastened. In the most poisonous series, such as a
rattle-snake, there is but a single row of recurved teeth in the upper jaw,
and these are the equivalents of the inner set of the harmless species.
Among the most venomous snakes the poison-fangs are tubular in character,
the poison being received from the venom-glands at their open base, and
discharged at the apex. In other forms the fangs have grooved channels only
for the passage of the virus, while in other species there may be an
intermediate condition. In all cases the poison-secreting glands are
modifications of the ordinary salivary glands of other vertebrate animals.
They are situated, one on each side, immediately below and behind the eyes,
and are in some instances so abnormally developed as to extend backwards
along the sides of the body. Special muscles envelop these glands, and
force the poison into the hollow base of the fangs when the mouth is opened
to strike.
[Illustration: _Photos by Fredk. Downer & Sons_] [_Watford._
A SMALL BOA-CONSTRICTOR SEIZING AND DEVOURING A RAT.
Illustrating the consecutive phases of seizing, strangling, and
subsequently gorging the prey, as practised by the largest and smallest
members of the class.]
Snakes, like lizards, are most abundant in tropical countries, the Indian
and Malay regions in particular being richest in numbers and varieties. The
British Islands support but three representatives of the class--the ADDER,
the COMMON RINGED and the SMOOTH SNAKES--this number, by a coincidence,
being identical with that of the Lizard Tribe indigenous to the same
islands. Many of the smaller species are little over 1 foot long, while the
huge Pythons and the Anaconda may attain to or exceed 30 feet. Regarding
their habits, some are purely terrestrial, frequenting the rocks or sandy
deserts, or even burrowing beneath the earth's surface. Others are
essentially arboreal, many amphibious, and some, like the Turtles among the
Chelonians, entirely marine. As with the Lizards, the majority of snakes
lay eggs enclosed within a white leathery shell, while with a considerable
number the young are brought forth alive. The eggs, deposited in the earth,
sand, or among vegetable debris, are usually left to be hatched by the heat
of the sun. In the case of the Pythons, however, they are incubated by the
parent.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
BOA-CONSTRICTOR READY TO STRIKE.
The neck, thrown back in one or more loops, can be projected, with immense
force and lightning-like rapidity, to strike or seize an intended victim.]
A small group of snakes which is usually placed at the head of the series
in systematic classifications share the subterranean habits of the
Amphisbænas among the Lizards; and the eyes being rudimentary and
functionless, they are commonly known as BLIND-SNAKES. A structural
peculiarity which separates these singular reptiles from all other members
of the Snake Tribe is the entire absence of teeth from either the upper or
lower jaw. The food of the blind-snakes consists largely of ants and the
larvæ of beetles and other insects which lead a subterranean life. Although
spending the greater portion of their existence underground, they
occasionally come out upon the surface, such migrations more generally
taking place during showery weather. About 100 species of blind-snakes are
known, and are mostly confined to tropical countries. One small worm-like
form occurs in Greece and the adjacent islands, its range extending through
a considerable area of South-western Asia.
The step from the small worm-like Blind-snakes, with their functionless
eyes and underground habits, to the Boas and Pythons, the largest and most
highly organised members of the Serpent Tribe, would seem at first sight to
be altogether unwarranted. In one essential character, however, they agree
very remarkably. In both groups the bony skeleton exhibits a far more
generalised structural plan than in any of the succeeding ones, so that
they may be regarded as more nearly resembling the primitive stock from
which the other more specialised kinds--such as the Vipers, with their
death-dealing poison-fangs--have been evolved.
The PYTHONS and BOAS, or BOA-CONSTRICTORS, as they are popularly known,
belong entirely to the non-venomous section of the Snake series. The teeth,
forming two rows in the upper jaws, gradually decrease in size from before
backwards, and none of them are grooved or modified in the form of
poison-fangs. The body is usually more or less compressed, and the tail
prehensile. The TYPICAL PYTHONS, or ROCK-SNAKES, as they are called, with
reference to their rock-frequenting habits, are distributed throughout
South-eastern Asia, Australia, and Central and South Africa.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
CARPET-SNAKE.
So called with reference to the variegated carpet-like pattern of its
skin-ornamentation.]
The INDIAN PYTHON, which is the largest Old World representative of its
race, is known authentically to attain to a length of 30 feet, and in the
largest specimens the spinal column may include over 400 vertebræ. In
common with other members of its family, this huge snake kills its quarry
by compression or strangulation, throwing around it successive coils of its
body, which, with their contraction, crush out the life of the victim. The
dispatched prey is then swallowed whole, commencing with the head. The
previous crushing of the bony framework greatly assists the swallowing
process, which is further aided by the snake pouring over the body of its
victim a copious discharge of saliva.
The extent to which the jaws and the integument of the body generally can
be distended for the passage and reception of the food is remarkable. After
partaking of a solid meal in this fashion, pythons remain sluggish and in a
state of semi-torpor for several days, not reawakening to active life, in
fact, until the digestion of the food has been accomplished. As is well
known, these and other snakes can exist for periods of many months'
duration between their meals. One of the largest Indian pythons by no means
contents itself with such small quarry as hares and rabbits--sheep, young
calves, and some of the smaller deer representing its more accustomed food.
The human species unarmed is as weak or weaker than the proverbial kitten,
pitted against the hydraulic-press-like embrace of these monster serpents;
and many an Indian native, and more rarely the white man, has fallen a
victim to their attacks.
The RETICULATED PYTHON, so called on account of the bold reticulated
pattern of the skin-ornamentation, may equal, if not exceed, the Indian
species in dimensions. It is a native of Burma, Siam, and the Malay region
generally, and is recorded as occasionally exceeding 30 feet in length.
Examples of this species, including one over 20 feet long, have constituted
leading attractions at the Reptile-house in the Zoological Society's
Gardens for many years past. The gorgeous prismatic tints that play upon
the surface-markings of the coils of these huge snakes, as the sun strikes
upon them about midday in their cages, form one of the most wonderful
sights that the Gardens afford.
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
ÆSCULAPIAN SNAKE.
A South European species with tree-climbing habits.]
The African Continent also produces its large species of pythons. One of
these, attaining to a length of 20 feet or more, reaches its maximum on the
west coast, and occurs with local modifications as far east and south as
Natal. In the latter country it is most familiarly known as the NATAL
ROCK-SNAKE.
[Illustration: _Photo by Mr. W. Rau_] [_Philadelphia._
A GROUP OF GARTER-SNAKES.
An American species which collects together in great numbers.]
Some rather singular incidents have been recorded illustrating the tenacity
with which pythons retain hold of the quarry once seized, or, more
correctly, their inability to release it. At the Adelaide Zoological
Gardens a specimen, when absorbing a rabbit, managed to entangle its teeth
in a corner of its blanket. That blanket had to follow the rodent through
the 12-foot-long python. On another occasion two pythons, a Queenslander
and Afrikander, happened at the same instant to commandeer respectively the
head and hindquarters of an identical rabbit. Inch by inch the portion
between the two grew smaller until the two noses met. There was no
retreating from this _impasse_, and the momentous question, "Shall I slay
my brother boa?" had to be settled affirmatively by one or other of the
interested parties without further parley. The somewhat smaller and weaker
individual was gradually telescoped, and in due time assimilated. The
absorber was decidedly poorly and "off colour" for a considerable period
after accomplishing this cannibalistic feat; it ultimately recovered both
its appetite and its prismatic tints.
The TRUE BOAS, as distinguished from the Pythons, are more essentially
arboreal in their habits, and, with the exception of one or two species
found in Madagascar, belong to the tropical American zoological region. The
COMMON BOA, or BOA-CONSTRICTOR, which attains to a length of 12 or 14 feet
or more, is limited in its distribution to South America. The colours of
this snake, which consist mainly of a light brown, with a number of dark
brown cross-bars on the back, and light centred, dark brown spots on the
sides, so nearly agree with the tint of the tree-branches with their
interlacing shadows, among which it usually lies concealed, that,
notwithstanding its large size, it readily evades detection, and is
unconsciously approached by the animals on which it preys. These, in adult
individuals, may be represented by such large-sized quarry as dogs, and
even deer; while smaller examples prey largely on birds and their eggs, and
the numerous rodents with which the tropical American forests teem. From
observations made upon this species in captivity, it would appear that the
eggs are usually hatched within the parent's body, though an instance has
been recorded in which both eggs and young were produced simultaneously.
A close ally of the typical boas, which shares with them a tropical South
American habitat, is the huge ANACONDA, or WATER-BOA, of Brazil and the
adjacent countries. This animal, which is undoubtedly the largest living
representative of the Serpent Tribe, attains a length little, if any, short
of 40 feet. One such monster was specially referred to by Dr. Gardiner, the
botanist, in his "Travels in Brazil"; it had devoured a horse, and was
found dead, entangled in the branches of a tree overhanging a river, into
which it had been carried by a flood. Full-grown cattle, and occasionally
human beings, as well as horses, are alleged to fall victims to the
destructive prowess of this gigantic snake. The anaconda is essentially
amphibious in its habits, the greater part of its life being spent in the
water, lying in wait, in the quiet lagoons and backwaters, with only its
head above the surface, and prepared to seize any unfortunate animal which
may come to the brink to drink. At other times it will coil itself upon the
trunks and larger branches of the adjacent trees, and from that point of
vantage will dart down its head, with sure aim and lightning rapidity, to
seize any suitable quarry which may pass beneath. In some parts of South
America where the rivers dry up at certain seasons of the year, the
anaconda is recorded to be in the habit of burying itself in the mud and
lying torpid, after the manner of crocodiles, until the return of the
rains. The ground-colour of the anaconda is usually greyish brown or olive
above, the back being ornamented with one or two transversely disposed rows
of large, rounded, dark brown or blackish spots, while the sides are
decorated with more irregularly scattered, smaller, eye-like spots, having
whitish centres and dark margins.
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
LEOPARD-SNAKE.
A harmless and beautifully marked species inhabiting Italy and Sicily.]
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
TESSELATED SNAKE.
A European species, similar in size and habits to the British ringed snake,
but more handsomely marked.]
An interesting little group, connecting the Boas and Pythons with the
Common Snakes, is that of the so-called SHIELD-TAILS, or EARTH-SNAKES, of
India and Ceylon. These reptiles are earth-burrowers, like the
Blind-snakes, previously referred to, but have well-developed eyes, and are
further distinguished by the abruptly truncated contour of their posterior
extremity, which may be either a naked disk or covered with keeled scales.
Their bodies are cylindrical, with the scaly covering very smooth and
polished, the scales of the under-surface being but little larger than the
upper ones; the jaws, in conformity with the peculiar modification of their
skull, are not capable of wide distension. Seven genera and a large number
of species are recognised, some being brilliantly coloured with tints of
red or yellow. Their main diet is earth-worms.
The family of the COMMON SNAKES includes the greater number of species, the
majority of the most venomous as well as harmless varieties being comprised
within its limits. The characters that are made the basis for separating
these snakes from the Boas are associated with the structure of the skull,
and are not therefore readily recognised without having recourse to
dissection. It will suffice to mention that, in this and the remaining
groups, there is an entire absence from the lower jaw of the slender
supplementary bone known as the "coronoid," which is present in the Boas
and Pythons. From succeeding groups, such as the Viperine series, they are
distinguished by the circumstance that the upper jaw is firmly fixed in a
horizontal position, and is not capable of erection in a vertical plane, or
like the lid of a box, as obtains with the Vipers.
[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society._
PINE-SNAKE.
A tree-haunting American species with very bold markings.]
These snakes are separated into secondary groups with relation to the
structure of their teeth. In one series these teeth are solid throughout,
neither grooved nor tubular; and all the snakes thus characterised are
harmless. In the second series one or more pairs of the hinder upper teeth
are longitudinally grooved, and act as poison-fangs; they are consequently
distinguished as the "back-fanged" group. In the third series the front
teeth of the upper jaw-bone are grooved, and constitute the poison-fangs,
and they are known as the "front-fanged" group.
To the first-mentioned solid-toothed and harmless division of the family
belongs the BRITISH RINGED SNAKE and some forty other allied species which
are collectively known as WATER-SNAKES, with reference to their more or
less pronounced aquatic habits. The ringed snake has a stoutish cylindrical
body, keeled scales, flat head covered with regular shields, wide
mouth-cleft, and numerous teeth, the strongest of which are at the hinder
end of the jaw-bone. The colour varies somewhat, being usually grey, brown,
or olive above, with darker spots or narrow transverse bands; the
under-surface is mottled black and white or grey. The lip-shields are white
or yellowish, with black dividing-lines. The neck in the ordinary variety
is usually ornamented with a yellow, white, or orange collar-like patch,
behind which is a somewhat broader black collar, which is produced forwards
and sub-divides the yellow one in the centre of the upper-surface. In the
variety of the ringed snake indigenous to the South of Europe the
collar-like markings may be altogether absent, or reduced to a small black
patch on each side of the nape of the neck. The maximum length of the
ringed snake is some 6½ feet. It is a most expert swimmer, moving swiftly
through the water with lateral undulations of its body, and carrying its
head and neck well above the surface. Frogs constitute its favourite diet,
but it will also capture and devour fish, mice, and young birds.
[Illustration: Photo by Henry Dixon & Son] [Albany Street, N.W.
COBRA (BACK VIEW).
Showing the remarkable pattern on the back of the neck, which has given
rise to the name of Spectacled Snake.]
The VIPERINE and TESSELATED SNAKES, both European forms, as also the
GARTER- and MOCASSIN-SNAKES of North America, are all closely allied in
structure and habits to the familiar ringed species. The second British
species, known as the SMOOTH SNAKE, belongs to the same group, but is more
terrestrial in its habits; while comparatively rare in England, and limited
to the southern counties, it is plentiful on the Continent. The INDIAN
RAT-SNAKE, which is almost as useful as the domestic cat in ridding
dwellings of rats and mice, is another representative of the solid-toothed
group. This group also includes the so-called PYGMY SNAKES, inhabiting the
Malay region, whose habits are mainly arboreal. They are the most
diminutive members of their order, some of the thirty known species not
exceeding 1 foot in length.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
QUEENSLAND SEA-SNAKE.
Sea-snakes have compressed tails, which they use for steering.]
The typical TREE-SNAKES of the Indian and Australian region, with large
eyes, somewhat compressed bodies, and colours of green or olive, in
harmonious accord with their arboreal surroundings, also belong to the
solid-toothed and harmless section. An especially interesting
representative of this group is the so-called EGG-EATING SNAKE of South
Africa. It does not exceed 2 feet in length, and is for the most part
arboreal in its habits, and, as its name implies, would appear to feed
exclusively on eggs. As a structural adaptation for this peculiar habit,
the spinous processes of a number of the vertebræ project into the throat
and are tipped with enamel, thus constituting supplementary throat-teeth.
Normally this snake subsists on the eggs of the smaller birds, but when
short of this supply has been known to leave the trees and rob hen-roosts,
being able, notwithstanding its comparatively small size, to dilate its
mouth and throat for the reception of a hen's egg. The egg is split
longitudinally by the action of the throat-teeth, the contents swallowed,
and the shell ejected.
The second or "back-fanged" group includes many exceedingly poisonous
species. Among these may be mentioned the INDIAN WHIP-SNAKES and their
allies, comprising many tree-frequenting species, closely resembling in
habits and colours the harmless solid-toothed tree-snakes of the preceding
section.
[Illustration: Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq.] [Eastbourne.
ENGLISH VIPER.
The only British venomous reptile.]
It is among the third or "front-fanged" group, however, that the most
venomous species occur. To this section belongs the death-dealing COBRA,
the yet more formidable HAMADRYAD, the INDIAN CRAITS, the EGYPTIAN ASP, and
the AUSTRALIAN BLACK SNAKES and DEATH-ADDERS. The COBRA-DE-CAPELLO, HOODED,
or SPECTACLED SNAKE, as it is variously known, is perhaps the most
notoriously familiar example of its section, being responsible for the
greater moiety of the many thousands of fatalities that annually occur
among the natives of India from the bites of venomous serpents. The craits,
which resemble the cobras, but do not possess an erectile hood, are
accredited a second position in death-dealing. The peculiar feature of the
erectile hood that characterises the cobras is due to the circumstance that
a certain number of the ribs in this region are independently movable, and
can be elevated and depressed at will, the skin-fold that overlies them
being loose and elastic. The back of the hood in the ordinary Indian cobra
is usually ornamented with two eye-like spots, connected with a loop-like
band, which communicate to the complete pattern the fancied resemblance to
a pair of spectacles, whence it has derived its appellation of Spectacled
Snake. Individuals vary, however, very considerably in this matter of
colour-markings; in some instances a single eye-like spot is alone
developed, while in others it may be entirely absent. The COMMON COBRA
grows to a length of 6 or 7 feet, dimensions greatly exceeded by the GIANT
COBRA, or HAMADRYAD, a fortunately rarer form more exclusively confined to
jungle and forest districts. This species may attain to a length of 13 feet
or more, and on account of its deadly bite and fiercely aggressive
disposition is much feared by the natives of the countries it inhabits,
which include not only India, but Burma, Siam, and the Malay region. This
giant cobra preys almost exclusively on smaller snakes, frequently
including the common cobra.
A third species of cobra, known as the HAJÉ, or SPITTING-SNAKE, inhabits
Africa, from Egypt as far south as Natal. It is perhaps the fiercest member
of the group, turning readily upon its pursuers, or even commencing the
attack. It also possesses the somewhat remarkable and disconcerting habit
of ejecting poison from its mouth to a distance of several feet, usually
aiming with considerable accuracy at the eyes of its assailant. Although
unattended by permanently serious effects, the pain caused by the virus
striking the eyes is for the time being excruciatingly painful, placing the
recipient of the unwelcome discharge entirely _hors de combat_. The first
record of the poison-spitting propensities of this snake, made by Mr.
Gordon Cumming, was received with considerable incredulity, but the
statement has been confirmed. A relative of the writer's, stationed in
Natal, was recently the victim of such an incident, receiving the
poison-discharge in his eyes from one of these snakes, which, in his
eagerness to dispatch it, he had imprudently cornered, armed only with a
sword. It was some days before the pain entirely abated and the sight
regained its normal clearness.
[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society._
AFRICAN PUFF-ADDER.
Horses die within a few hours of being bitten by this serpent.]
[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society._
DIAMOND-BACK RATTLE-SNAKE.
One or more joints are added to the "rattle" each successive year.]
Australia, with its BLACK and TIGER-SNAKES and the DEATH-ADDER, possesses
snakes as venomous as the cobra, which the first-named species approach in
their capacity to inflate their necks, though to a less degree. The
TASMANIAN BLACK SNAKE, as it glides swiftly, as though sailing, across open
grass-land, with the midday sun scintillating on its 7-foot stretch of
jet-black, highly polished scales, its head and expanded neck threateningly
elevated some 18 inches above the ground, is certainly a most impressive
sight.
One very distinct group of the front-fanged section which demands brief
notice is that of the SEA-SNAKES. These are readily distinguished by their
especial adaptation to a marine existence, their much-compressed, oar-like
tails constituting powerful propelling organs. In contradistinction to the
terrestrial snakes of the same group, the inferior scales, not being
required for terrestrial locomotion, are little if any larger than the
upper ones. All the species are highly venomous; they feed chiefly upon
fish, and are distributed throughout the tropical seas. The larger species
rarely exceed 5 or 6 feet in length, and the majority are much smaller.
Many species are noted for their conspicuous colouring, which most
frequently takes the form of distinctly contrasting bands. All the members
of this group are viviparous.
[Illustration: Photo by J. W. McLellan] [Highbury.
RATTLE-SNAKE.
The rattle-snake is pre-eminently noted for its power of fascinating birds
and the smaller mammals.]
The last and most highly specialised section of the Snake Tribe is that of
the VIPER and its allies, collectively known as the Viperine Family. In all
the representatives of this group the hinder upper jaw-bone is so loosely
articulated that it is capable of erection at a right angle to the
horizontal plane of the skull, the gape of the mouth being in consequence
abnormally wide. The teeth in the upper jaw are reduced to a single
anteriorly situated pair of tubular poison-fangs, with which, when striking
its prey, the snake deals a direct stab. The head in the majority of the
Viperine Snakes is flattened and triangular, nearly resembling in contour
the symbolic ace of spades. The body is usually relatively thick, and the
tail short and stumpy. The vertical pupil of the eye denotes nocturnal
habits. All the members of the section are venomous.
The Viperine Snakes are usually divided into two groups. The first contains
the Typical or Old World Vipers, and includes, in addition to the COMMON
VIPER, the CERASTES or HORNED VIPER of Egypt, and the large and most
repulsive and deadly African PUFF-ADDER. The COMMON VIPER or ADDER, the
only poisonous British snake, has a very extensive geographical
distribution, extending throughout Europe and Asia as far east as the
island of Saghalien, and northwards to the Arctic Circle. The HORNED VIPER
of the Sahara and North Africa is one of the most venomous of living
serpents. Lying buried beneath the sand, with only its head above, it will
spring aggressively at any animal which passes by, and the action of its
venom is so rapid that a horse or man bitten by it usually dies within half
an hour. In colour the horned viper closely resembles the sand or stony
wastes among which it lies. The most remarkable feature in this snake is
the presence of two elevated horn-like processes immediately above the
eyes, which are most prominent in the male. The species has frequently been
on view at the Zoological Society's Gardens. On one occasion an ostensible
example was purchased and deposited in the Reptile-house, which proved on
nearer investigation to be a base imposition. A common desert-viper had
been cleverly manipulated by the deft insertion of suitably shaped
splinters of wood into its head, so that it resembled the rarer horned
variety. The PUFF-ADDER, the largest member of its tribe, may attain to a
length of 6 feet or more, and is distributed throughout the African
Continent. Its thick body is almost triangular in section, the head very
large, flat, and bluntly rounded anteriorly, while the eyes have a
particularly fierce, stony, and repulsive aspect. In colour individuals
vary considerably, but there is generally a chequered pattern of reds,
browns, and greys, disposed in the form of darker and lighter alternating
crescent-shaped bands along the back. The poison of this snake is nearly as
virulent as that of the horned viper, and is commonly used by the African
bushmen for poisoning their arrows.
The Viperine group is abundantly represented in the New World, where its
members differ from the typical Old World species in sundry anatomical
points, one of the most conspicuous features being the presence of a
distinct depression or pit in the surface of the head between the nostril
and the eye on either side. On this account they are distinguished by the
title of PIT-VIPERS. Among the more familiar representatives of this group
are the RATTLE-SNAKES, the FER-DE-LANCE, the BUSH-MASTER, and the
COPPER-HEAD or MOCASSIN-SNAKES. All these are notoriously venomous, fatal
effects from bites received by human subjects being of frequent recurrence.
The RATTLE-SNAKES are especially distinguished by the peculiar, loosely
jointed, horny appendage to their tails, by the rapid vibration of which,
when disturbed, they fortunately give timely notice of their presence. In
the young individuals this rattle is only represented by a single
button-like knob, additional loose, hollow, horny rings being added between
it and the scaly termination of the tail as age increases. In full-grown
examples the horny rings composing the rattle may number as many as twenty
or more, though, owing to the war of extermination incessantly levied
against these reptiles in all civilised areas, it is rarely that such
elaborate rattle-bearers are now met with. The rattle-snake, in the more
northern districts of its distribution, hibernates in the winter, often
congregating together in great numbers for the sake of the mutual warmth.
In the earlier days certain caves were famous as the retreats into which
not only hundreds but thousands of the reptiles would congregate from the
country round for their winter's slumber. At such times hunting-parties
were specially organised for their wholesale destruction, and accomplished
much towards reducing their ranks to their present numbers.
[Illustration: _By permission of the New York Zoological Society._
FER-DE-LANCE SNAKE.
One of the fiercest and most venomous of American viperine snakes.]
In addition to the common North American rattle-snake there are some four
or five other species distributed throughout the Southern States, Mexico,
and Panama. None appear to exceed a length of 6 feet. In South America
their place is to a large extent taken by the so-called BUSH-MASTER, a
snake which attains to a length of as much as from 9 to 12 feet, and, in
addition to being exceedingly venomous, is of an especially fierce and
aggressive disposition. It is devoid of a rattle-like appendage, the tail
terminating in a sharp horny spine. The FER-DE-LANCE, or RAT-TAILED
PIT-VIPER, is another Central and South American species, held in wholesome
dread on account of its death-dealing potentialities. The South American
sugar-plantations are an especially favourite resort of this deadly snake,
its attraction being the rats which frequent the canes and afford its chief
food. Lying concealed among the thick foliage, it will launch itself
aggressively at any passer-by, and its bite is usually attended with fatal
results within a few hours. The fer-de-lance grows to a length of 6 or 7 or
occasionally even 8 feet, with a thickness of a man's arm. Its colours, as
with most members of its tribe, are somewhat variable. The ground-colour of
the back is usually olive or reddish brown, with dark cross-bands; a black
stripe runs backwards from the eye to the neck, and in some instances the
sides of the body are bright red.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
BULL-FROG.
The croaking of this species may be heard at a distance of several miles.]
The American Continent is not wanting in aquatic representatives of the
Viperine series. The most notable of these is the fish-eating WATER-VIPER,
whose distribution extends from North Carolina in the south over the whole
of North America as far westward as the Rocky Mountains. Fish and frogs
constitute the main diet of this reptile.
----
AMPHIBIANS.
----
CHAPTER VI.
_FROGS AND TOADS._
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
AMERICAN BULL-FROG.
Young ducks are a favourite food of this voracious Batrachian.]
The Amphibian Class, through the Newts and Salamanders more especially,
would appear at first sight to have much in common with and to be most
closely allied to the Lizards, previously described. As a matter of fact,
however, the group is much more nearly related to the Fishes. Quite the
most characteristic feature in the Amphibians that is indicative of the
above-mentioned affinity is the circumstance that for a more or less longer
period of their existence their respiratory organs take the form of
external gills, structures not found in any of the preceding vertebrate
classes. Another diagnostic character of the Amphibia is afforded by the
circumstance that they all pass through a transitional or larval condition
before arriving at the adult state. The familiar tadpole phase of the
common frog or toad typically illustrates this point. During its earliest
larval state the fish-like resemblance is especially conspicuous. In
addition to possessing gills, the body is limbless, and produced into a
long fish-like tail, having superior and inferior fin-like membranes, with
which the little animal propels itself through the water. These locomotive
fins, however, are never furnished with supporting fin-rays, as obtains
among the Fishes. In contradistinction to the Lizards and Snakes, the skin
of Amphibians is never covered with spines or scales, but is soft and
naked. In many of the Toads and Salamanders the surface of the skin is,
however, warted and highly glandular, and capable of emitting an acrid and
sometimes poisonous fluid. More or less pronounced conditions of moisture
are essential for the well-being of all Amphibians. The eggs are deposited,
and the earlier or larval conditions, with but few exceptions, passed, in
the water, while the adults remain in its near proximity, and frequently
take up their abode in it. Amphibia do not, however, drink water after the
manner of lizards and other reptiles, but absorb all the moisture they
require through the surface of their skins. The deeper and more essential
skeletal elements of the Amphibia differ conspicuously from those of the
preceding groups. The vertebræ in the permanently gill-bearing species more
particularly are scarcely to be distinguished from those of fishes. In the
Frog and Toad Tribe, on the other hand, they are reduced to a less number,
seven or eight only, than is found among any other vertebrates, while ribs
do not exist or are rudimentary and functionless throughout the class. Many
bones of the skull in the Amphibia, as well as its general construction,
are more in accord with those of fishes than of ordinary reptiles. The
tongue, not always present, is attached immediately inside the front of the
lower jaw, its tip pointing down the animal's throat. It is remarkable
that, notwithstanding their aquatic proclivities, no Amphibian has been
discovered which frequents salt water.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
EDIBLE FROG.
The hind legs only of this species are used for the composition of the
famous Parisian dish.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
TIGER-LIKE FROG.
A species closely allied to the common British frog, but more boldly
marked.]
Amphibians amongst themselves constitute two very easily recognised
sub-divisions,--the one including the Frogs and Toads, collectively forming
the Tailless group; and the other represented by the Newts and Salamanders,
or Tailed Amphibians. The former group has an almost world-wide
distribution, numbering some thousand species; it is most abundantly
represented in the tropics, ranging thence in diminishing numbers to the
limits of the Arctic Circle. In colder climates these Amphibia usually
hibernate during the winter months; while in tropical countries, where dry
seasons intervene, they often bury themselves in the mud, and remain in a
state of torpor till the return of the rains. The majority are more or less
essentially nocturnal in their habits. Frogs and toads commence life in an
aquatic tadpole phase. While in the adult state they are strictly
carnivorous, the tadpoles are vegetarian feeders.
The section to which the COMMON BRITISH FROG belongs includes nearly 150
species, collectively known as Water-frogs, which present considerable
differences in both their aspect and habits. While some are perennially
aquatic, others only resort to the water during the breeding-season; some
are terrestrial and occasionally earth-burrowers, while yet another series
is essentially arboreal.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
RÖNTGEN RAY PHOTOGRAPH OF COMMON FROG.
The relatively small amount of bone which enters into the structure of the
skull is well shown in this photograph.]
In addition to the familiar British species the much-esteemed EDIBLE FROG
of the Continent has become acclimatised in England. A dark-coloured race
of this frog, supposed to have been introduced by the monks centuries since
on account of its esculent properties, is plentiful in the fens of
Cambridgeshire, while a greener race of the same species was imported to
and established in Norfolk somewhere about the year 1840. The edible frog
may be distinguished from the common species by the more complete webbing
of its hind feet, the absence of the dark so-called temporal spot that
extends from the eye to the shoulder, and the presence in the males of a
globular sac on each side of the head, which confers upon them louder
croaking powers than are possessed by the common species.
The loudest-voiced as well as almost the largest member of this group is
the BULL-FROG of Canada and the United States. The length of the body in
this species may be as much as from 7 to 7½ inches, exclusive of the legs;
and its croakings, or more correctly bellowings, are so loud that it may be
heard for a distance of several miles. These croakings are most pronounced
during the early spring or breeding-season. In the Southern United States,
however, they are maintained more or less persistently throughout the year.
While the British frog contents itself with a diet of slugs, worms,
beetles, and other insects, the bull-frog aspires to larger quarry, and has
an especial penchant for young ducklings. As a compensation the flesh of
the bull-frog is said to be very delicately flavoured, and the species is
so much esteemed in some localities as to be kept in captivity and fattened
for the table. It has been recorded that the bull-frog makes leaps of from
8 to 10 feet in length and 5 feet in height.
In point of size the bull-frog is somewhat eclipsed by a species discovered
in the Solomon Islands, and known as GUPPY'S FROG. This huge frog has a
body no less than 9 inches in length. It has not been recorded whether its
vocal powers are proportionately loud. Another large species allied to the
Bull-frogs is found in South and East Africa, whose flesh is attested to by
Dr. Livingstone as being excellent eating and resembling chicken when
cooked. This frog, known to the natives as the MATLAMITLO, is supposed by
them to fall from the clouds, on account of its sudden appearance in even
the driest parts of the desert immediately after a thunder-storm. The
species, however, is in the habit of making holes at the roots of bushes,
into which it retires during the months of drought, rushing out into the
hollows filled by the thunder-showers while the rain is still actually
falling. Even during the long drought these frogs continue their croakings
from their retreats at night, and are very misleading to travellers, who
customarily associate their presence with the immediate neighbourhood of
water.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
ORNAMENTED HORNED TOAD.
The bite of this toad is highly venomous.]
There is a remarkable difference in the voice-timbre of the various species
of frogs. In England, with its one indigenous variety, comparisons cannot
be instituted. In countries, however, like Australia, where numbers of
species live in close proximity, the phenomenon is very marked. Some only
give voice in the evening or night, while others keep up their clamour
throughout the day; with some the note is metallic and almost bell-like,
while one diurnal croaking species, which congregates in great numbers in
the eastern Tasmanian coast district, emits a loud percussive note closely
resembling that of a stone-breaker's hammer. On several occasions, in fact,
when driving through the areas these frogs frequented, the impression
produced by their croaking was so realistic that the next turn in the road
was expected to reveal the presence of a large gang of road-makers engaged
in negotiating a wayside stone-heap.
One of the most remarkable species is the FLYING-FROG of Java. The power of
flight is simulated in this instance on a different principle to that which
obtains in any other group. It is not accomplished through the medium of
abnormally produced ribs with connecting membrane, as occurs in the
Flying-lizards; nor by means of a flap of skin stretched between the fore
and hind limbs, as in the Flying-squirrels and Phalangers. In place of
these the toes of all four feet are abnormally prolonged, and their
interspaces bridged over to their tips by webbing. The body of this frog is
about 4 inches long, while the webs of the feet, when fully expanded, cover
collectively an area of fully 12 square inches; they thus constitute aerial
floats, which enable their owner to make prodigiously long flying leaps
among the trees in which it takes up its abode. The colours of this
singular species are striking; the back and limbs are a deep shining green,
the under-surface and inner toes yellow, and the webs black rayed with
yellow. In common with the typical Tree-frogs, the toes of this Javan
flying variety all terminate in a dilated adhesive disk.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
ORNAMENTED HORNED TOAD.
Is accustomed to prowl round farmyards to pick up stray chicks and
ducklings.]
Among the oddities of the Frog Tribe prominence may be given to the
singular SHORT-HEADED FROGS of East Africa. In these the head is so short,
and the body, when puffed out, so nearly globular, that they have been
aptly described as more nearly resembling india-rubber balls than frogs.
Another notable form, inhabiting Chili, is remarkable for the circumstance
that the throat-sac of the male is so enlarged and modified as to form a
chamber on the under surface of the body. In this sac the eggs laid by the
female are deposited and pass through their tadpole phases.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
EUROPEAN GREEN TREE-FROG.
Indigenous to Southern Europe.]
The HORNED FROGS, or HORNED TOADS, of South America constitute a distinct
and interesting group. They are of large size, stout and rotund, gorgeously
apparelled, and truculent in bearing. There are nearly a dozen known
species, the distinctive feature from which they take their name having
reference to the stiff, horn-like development of their upper eyelids. The
largest species is a native of Brazil, whose body may be as much as 8
inches long. This species has the horn-like processes of the eyelids most
prominently developed. A somewhat smaller but conspicuously handsome
species, plentiful in the Argentine Republic, is at the present time
represented by several individuals at the Regent's Park Gardens. In this
animal the body is relatively more obese and toad-like than in the
Brazilian form, but the horn-like angle of the upper eyelid is only
slightly produced. The colours vary somewhat, the general ground-tint of
the upper-surface is bronze-green or yellow, upon which are distributed
large spots and blotches of dark olive or chocolate, having light yellow or
golden margins. The spots on the limbs are the widest, and almost take the
character of cross-bands. Bright claret-red lines are sometimes developed
in and among the body-spots.
A very interesting account of the habits of this frog appears in Mr. W. H.
Hudson's "The Naturalist in La Plata." Mr. Hudson reports it as being
common on the pampas as far south as the Rio Colorado, in Patagonia. In the
breeding-season it congregates in pools, and displays extraordinary vocal
powers, which are exercised at night. The notes uttered are long,
resembling those of a wind instrument, and are so powerful that on still
evenings they may be heard distinctly a mile off. After the pairing-season
the frogs disperse, and, retiring to moist places, bury themselves just
deep enough to leave their broad green backs on a level with the surface.
The eyes, under these conditions, look out as from a couple of
watch-towers, and are on the _qui vive_ for any approaching prey. This
consists of any moving creature which they can capture, such as other frogs
and toads, birds, and small mammals. In very wet seasons they will frequent
the neighbourhood of houses, and lie in wait for chickens and ducklings,
often capturing and attempting to swallow objects much too large for them.
In disposition they are exceedingly pugnacious, savagely biting at anything
that comes near them. When teased, the creature swells itself out to such
an extent that one expects to see it burst. It follows its tormentors about
with slow, awkward leaps, its vast mouth wide open, and uttering an
incessant harsh croaking sound. When they bite, these frogs hold on with
the tenacity of a bull-dog, poisoning the blood of the creature seized with
their glandular secretion. Mr. Hudson records two instances in which to his
knowledge horses were killed through being bitten by a horned frog. One of
them, while lying down, had been seized by a fold in the skin near the
belly; the other had been grasped by the nose while cropping grass. In both
instances the vicious frog was found dead, with jaws tightly closed, still
hanging to the dead horse. "It would seem," Mr. Hudson remarks, "that they
are sometimes incapable of letting go at will, and, like honey-bees,
destroy themselves in these savage attacks."
The TREE-FROGS represent one of the most distinct groups of the tribe. All
its members are more or less arboreal in their habits, repairing to the
water only during the breeding-season, or leaving the trees to seek shelter
in the earth or underneath stones or timber for the purposes of
hibernation. As an adaptation for their special habits, the toes of the
tree-frogs are provided at their tips with suctorial disks, so that they
can walk on perpendicular or smoothly glazed surfaces after the manner of
the Geckos among the Lizards. Another characteristic feature is the
development on the under surface of their bodies of peculiar granular
glands pierced by numerous pores, through the medium of which they rapidly
absorb the moisture deposited by dew or rain on the surfaces of the leaves
among which they live. The colours of the tree-frogs harmonise, as a rule,
so completely with those of their leafy environments that their presence
very readily escapes detection. Many of the species, moreover, rival the
chamæleon in their capacity of quickly adapting their tints to that of a
newly occupied surrounding. Green is naturally the dominant ground-tint of
these frogs. Often, however, it is intermixed with stripes and bands of
other colours, while sometimes the green hue is entirely replaced, as in
the BLUE or BICOLOURED TREE-FROG of South America, which is brilliant azure
above and pure white beneath. A very beautiful Australian species, abundant
in Tasmania and Victoria, and appropriately named the GOLDEN TREE-FROG, has
its grass-green overcoat thickly overlaid and embroidered with, as it were,
the purest beaten gold.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea._
QUEENSLAND TREE-FROGS.
This species is in the habit of making itself at home in chamber
water-jugs.]
[Illustration: _Photo by H. G. F. Spurrell, Esq._] [_Eastbourne._
COMMON TOAD.
Toads are accredited with attaining an age of several hundred years.]
One small species of tree-frog is common on the European Continent, its
distribution extending to North Africa and eastward throughout Asia north
of the Himalaya to Japan. The species is imported into England in
considerable numbers, and readily becomes acclimatised in a conservatory.
Green above and whitish beneath constitute the prevailing tints of this
species, such uniformity being, however, varied by the presence of a
darker, often nearly black, light-edged streak, that extends from the snout
through the eye and ear along each side of the body, and sends a branch
upwards and forwards on the loins. The male of this European species shares
with many others of its tribe the possession of a large external vocal sac,
which when inflated bulges out from the throat in a spherical form to
dimensions little inferior to those of the creature's body. It may be
observed of examples of these frogs acclimatised in a conservatory that the
falling of heavy rain on the roof is an almost certain incentive to their
croakings. By pouring water resonantly from a little height into another
vessel, the writer also found that he could produce a frog chorus at
command.
The European and other tree-frogs deposit their eggs in the water, some
species constructing a symmetrical crater-like nest of mud for the
reception of the eggs and tadpoles. Certain kinds, however, never leave the
trees, having adapted their requirements to the naturally provided
environments. Thus one Brazilian species deposits its eggs in the water
almost invariably contained in the central cup of a tree, while another
allied frog chooses for the same purpose the moist interstices at the bases
of decaying banana leaves. A step further, resulting in complete
independence of external water, is arrived at by the MARSUPIAL or POUCHED
TREE-FROG of Central America. In this species the female develops a
capacious pouch on her back, which opens backward, and wherein both the
eggs--primarily assisted to their position by the male--and tadpoles
undergo their characteristic transformations.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
COMMON TOAD.
The toad is highly appreciated by the horticulturist on account of its
utility in destroying insect-pests.]
As a contrast to the foregoing exclusively tree-dwelling forms, one very
fine species common in Queensland has pronounced social proclivities. He is
a fine fellow, with a bright pea-green coat and large, lustrous black eyes,
and either with or without your leave invades your bedroom from the
adjoining verandah, and makes the lip of your water-jug his headquarters.
Here he will "lie low" the livelong day. With the approach of night,
however, this lethargy is thrown aside, and he hops forth, making
excursions through every room in search of black-beetles, spiders, moths,
or other acceptable quarry. In this vermin-destroying capacity he is a
welcome guest to all except perhaps the ultra-squeamish housekeeper, his
occasional offence of an upset glass or cup during his excited chase of the
wily cockroach being readily condoned. He has a playful habit too, during
his midnight wanderings, of climbing up walls and ceilings, to which he
readily clings with his adhesive toes, and mayhap drops down on the
recumbent form of some peaceful sleeper, who, if a stranger, possibly wakes
with an alarming apprehension of snakes or other uncanny intruders. When
once this QUEENSLAND GREEN FROG has determined upon his camping-ground, he
clings to it with remarkable pertinacity. You may deport him time after
time, and even carry him half a day's journey into the wilderness, but he
turns up again the next morning or the following one.
Toads are distinguished from frogs by their sluggish creeping movements and
by their non-possession of teeth. There are over eighty species, having
collectively an almost cosmopolitan range, though they are not found in
Australia, New Guinea, Madagascar, or the Pacific Islands. The common
British species enjoys a wide distribution, being found throughout Europe,
Asia excepting India, and North-west Africa. Its somewhat clumsy, brown,
wrinkled, and warted body, with darker spots and markings on the
upper-surface and white-speckled under-surface, will be familiar to every
reader. With many it is an unwarranted object of aversion, and in country
districts is not infrequently accredited with venomous properties.
Toad-spawn is plentiful in ponds and ditches in the early spring, and may
be distinguished from that of the frog by the fact of its being deposited
in chain-like strings, the eggs being arranged in a double alternating row,
instead of in irregular masses, as obtains with the last-named species. The
individual eggs are, moreover, smaller, and deposited two or three weeks
later in the season than those of the frog. A second and somewhat rarer
British toad is known as the NATTERJACK. It may be distinguished from the
ordinary species by the shorter hind limbs, the more prominent eyes, and
the conspicuous yellow line down the middle of its back. It is also
somewhat more active than the common species.
The last member of the group which demands brief notice is the singular
WATER-TOAD of Surinam. This animal, also known as the PIPA, is an
inhabitant of the moist forest regions of the Guianas and Central America,
and remarkable on account of the singular phenomena connected with its
breeding habits. The eggs, from 60 to over 100 in number, are deposited by
the female in the water in the ordinary manner, but at this stage they are
taken in hand by the male and literally planted in the back of the female,
whose skin in this region becomes abnormally soft and thickened at this
season. The young toads undergo their complete development in the parental
integument, each egg and its resulting embryo occupying a separate
primarily cylindrical chamber, which by lateral pressure becomes hexagonal,
resembling a honeycomb-cell. Eighty-two days are occupied from the time of
the deposition of the eggs until the young toads emerge into the outer
world, their appearance as they make their _début_, with here a head and
there one or it may be two limbs thrust out from the surface of the
parent's back, being highly grotesque.
----
CHAPTER VII.
_NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS._
The Newts and Salamanders, or Tailed Amphibians, are distinguished from the
preceding group of the Frogs and Toads by the retention of a tail
throughout life. In this manner they very nearly resemble the advanced
larval or tadpole phases of the latter. In some instances, in fact, the
earlier or externally gill-bearing tadpole phase is persistent. The
geographical distribution of the Salamander Tribe is much less extensive
than that of the Frogs and Toads, but few are found south of the Equator,
and they are entirely unknown in Australia or in Africa south of the
Sahara.
[Illustration: _Photo by James B. Corr, Esq._] [_Dundee._
COMMON OR SMOOTH NEWT.
This harmless little creature is accredited by many country people with
venomous properties.]
Two members of the group are indigenous to the British Islands, where they
are familiarly known as NEWTS, ASKERS, EFFETS, or EFTS. The larger and
handsomer of the two, the CRESTED NEWT, occurs in ponds and ditches
throughout the warmer months of the year. It grows to a length of nearly 6
inches, of which the tail constitutes about one moiety. Its colour is more
usually blackish or olive-brown with darker circular spots above, and
yellow or orange-red with black spots or marbling beneath, while the sides
are speckled white. In the breeding-season the colours are more especially
brilliant, and it is at this time that the male develops the serrated crest
along the middle of its back, from which it takes its title.
[Illustration: _Photo by James B. Corr, Esq._] [_Dundee._
SMOOTH NEWT.
This species often travels long distances from water, taking up its
residence in damp cellars and vaults.]
The eggs, or spawn, of the newt are deposited in a different fashion to
those of the frog and toad. In place of being aggregated together in an
irregular or ribbon-like mass, each is deposited separately and attached to
the leaves of water-plants. By the dexterous use of its feet, the female
newt twists or folds the leaf, or a portion of it, around the egg, its
viscid envelope allowing it to readily adhere, and it is thus effectually
concealed or protected from injury. When about a quarter of a inch long,
the tadpole escapes from the egg. At this early stage the gills are quite
simple and the front limbs represented by mere knobs. Immediately in front
of the gills are two fleshy lobes, by means of which the tadpole can
temporarily adhere to the surfaces of water-plants. Within a fortnight the
little animal has grown to double the size. The gills are now elegantly
branched and the fore limbs well developed. The latter are, however, only
bifurcated at their extremities, and it is some little time later that four
distinct toes are possessed by each fore limb and that the hind limbs make
their appearance. The gills, which have at this stage reached their most
complex state of development, now begin to diminish in size, and are
gradually absorbed, the lungs in the meantime acquiring their full
functional proportions. The newt, having now passed from the fish-like to a
reptilian stage, is unable to live entirely beneath the water, and is
obliged to come up to the surface at intervals to breathe, or is adapted
for living entirely upon land. Newts in their fully matured state, except
during the breeding-season, pass much of their time on land, and wander to
considerable distances from the water. They at all times, however, exhibit
a preference for moist situations, such as a shady wood or damp cellar.
Like the toad and blind-worm, the feeble, inoffensive newt has from the
earliest time to the present day been the victim of the most unmerited
dread and persecution among the uneducated. In some country districts it is
not only accredited with the property of biting venomously, but of spitting
fire into the bitten wound. A property that is actually possessed by these
creatures is that of reproducing lost parts. The Geckos and other lizards,
as already recorded, are in the habit of reproducing their mutilated tails.
The newt, however, beats that record to the extent of reproducing lost
legs, and, it has been affirmed, eyes also.
A second species of British newt, of somewhat smaller size and even more
common than the crested one, is the COMMON or SMOOTH NEWT. It scarcely
exceeds 3 inches in length, and is distinguished by its smooth skin and
relatively less conspicuous crest. In habits it is less addicted to a
prolonged aquatic residence than the crested form, and wanders to more
considerable distances from water. One of the largest and handsomest
representatives of the family is the MARBLED NEWT of Southern France and
the Spanish Peninsula, which attains a length of 8 or 9 inches. The
upper-parts of the male at the breeding-season are bright bronze-green with
irregular black markings; its crest is ornamented with black and white
vertical bars, and a silvery white band is developed along the sides of the
tail. The crestless female has a distinctive orange streak running down the
centre of the back.
The TRUE SALAMANDERS have no British representative, though the common or
spotted species is abundant throughout Central and Southern Europe. Its
conspicuous livery--in which bold markings of black and brilliant yellow
are somewhat equally balanced, no two individuals, however, precisely
corresponding--distinguishes it broadly from all other members of the
group. The surface of the skin is very smooth and shining, and thickly set
on the surface with glands and pores, from which a viscid and undoubtedly
poisonous secretion is exuded. In common with that of other salamanders,
the tail is cylindrical, instead of compressed and oar-shaped, as in the
Newts, and there is no crest down the back. The SPOTTED SALAMANDER
frequents moist situations in mountain and forest districts. It is
essentially nocturnal in its habits, lying up during the day in some
suitable rock or mossy crevice, exposure of its sensitive skin to the
direct rays of the sun speedily having a fatal effect. Large numbers of
this salamander are sold as suitable and curious additions to the fernery
and vivarium, and will survive for long periods, appropriate food and the
necessary conditions of moisture being provided. Snails, worms, and beetles
and other insects constituting its natural food, it fulfils as useful a
rôle as the toad in the extermination of insect-pests, and may be as
strongly recommended for introduction to the greenhouse.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
SPOTTED SALAMANDERS.
Natives of Central Europe.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
SPOTTED SALAMANDER.
The skin of the salamander exudes a poisonous secretion, and its bright
colours advertise its non-edible properties to carnivorous birds and
mammals.]
Salamanders repair to the water to breed, after the manner of newts, but
the young are usually brought forth alive, though occasionally eggs are
deposited, from which the young tadpoles almost immediately emerge. The
number usually produced at a birth ranges from sixteen to thirty, but
instances are recorded where there have been as many as fifty.
The colossus of the tailed Amphibian race is the GIANT SALAMANDER of China
and Japan, which may attain to a length of from 3 to 3½ feet. The body,
like that of the ordinary salamanders, is broad and depressed; but the eyes
are very small, and have no eyelids; and the tail, which is relatively
short, is compressed, and has a fin both above and beneath. This salamander
lives entirely in the water, and is adapted for such an aquatic life by the
possession of both lungs and gills. In its native habitat it is most
usually found in small, clear mountain-streams, at elevations of from 700
to 5,000 feet above the sea-level, such streams being often not more than a
foot in width, and more or less overgrown with grasses; in these the adults
are usually found curled round the larger stones, while the smaller ones
occupy holes and crevices among them.
[Illustration: _Photo by James B. Corr, Esq._] [_Dundee._
YELLOW PHASE OF SPOTTED SALAMANDERS.
The first four or five months of the young salamander's life are passed in
the water.]
A representative of the tribe now commonly kept in aquaria is the Mexican
AXOLOTL. It has usually a velvety black skin, and grows to a length of 9 or
10 inches. As generally known it presents a very newt-like aspect, or, more
correctly, that advanced tadpole state of the newt in which the external
gills are most highly developed. The animals breed freely in the water,
eggs being laid, which pass through the earlier tadpole to the adult phase.
Up to within comparatively recent times the foregoing metamorphoses were
supposed to represent the Alpha and Omega of the animal's existence. Some
exceptional examples, however, bred in an aquarium in which rocks projected
out of the water, surprised their owners by gradually absorbing their
supposed persistent gills, also their fin-like tail-membranes, and,
crawling out on the rocks, were transformed into ordinary salamanders.
The OLM, or BLIND PROTEUS, of the subterranean caves of Dalmatia and
Carniola is a form with persistent external gills. Nearly allied is the
North American form known as the FURROWED SALAMANDER. The latter, however,
living under more normal conditions, has well-developed eyes. While
possessing the customary number of limbs, the number of toes in the
American type is four to each foot. In the European Proteus there are but
three toes to the front and two toes to the hinder limb. In a yet lower
form, the SIREN SALAMANDER of the South-eastern United States, a yet more
primitive persistently gill-bearing condition is presented.
[Illustration: _Photographed & coloured by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._
_Printed at Lyons, France._
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SCARLET ROCK-COD.
A member of the Sea-Perch family not infrequently exposed for sale in the
Freemantle fish market; having excellent edible qualities.]
[Illustration: _Photographed & coloured by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._
_Printed at Lyons, France._
FREEMANTLE DEVIL-FISH or ARMED GURNARD.
An Australian representative of the Gurnard & Bull-head family, having
spines which can inflict exceedingly painful wounds.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
AUSTRALIAN LUNG-FISH.
This fish is also known as the Burnett River Salmon.]
----
_BOOK IV. FISHES._
----
CHAPTER I.
_LUNG-FISHES AND CHIMÆRAS._
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.
Though amongst the lowest of the backboned animals, the Fishes are
nevertheless an exceedingly interesting group, distinguished from all
others by the possession of fins, which are divisible into two series,--an
unpaired, ranged along the middle of the back and abdomen, and including
the tail-fin; and a paired series, representing the fore and hind limbs of
land animals. The body is either clothed with scales or naked, and, being
perfectly sustained by the water, needs no support from the fins, which
serve as balancing-organs.
In the brilliancy and beauty of their coloration fishes display a variety
that cannot be excelled by any other animals. Furthermore, the coloration
is often rendered still more beautiful from the fact that it can undergo
rapid changes of hue. Frequently this coloration is of a protective
character, causing the fish to harmonise with its surroundings, and so
escape the observation of its enemies. The colours of living fishes can
only, for the most part, be indicated in the present pages when a pattern
exists by the formation of stripes or spots; but the wonderful variations
in the form of the body will probably prove a revelation to many.
LUNG-FISHES.
The LUNG-FISHES are a peculiarly important group, inasmuch as they form a
connecting-link between the class Fishes and the land-dwelling
Amphibians--the class containing the Frogs and Toads and their allies. They
are accorded this position mainly because, like Amphibians, they possess
true lungs, which almost entirely replace the gills, the breathing-organs
of other fishes.
One of the best known of the lung-fishes is the AUSTRALIAN BARRAMUNDI, or
LUNG-FISH OF QUEENSLAND--the BURNETT or DAWSON SALMON of the settlers. It
lives among the weeds at the bottom of muddy rivers, rising frequently to
the surface to take in atmospheric air by the lungs, the gills alone being
insufficient for breathing purposes. The flesh, which is salmon-coloured,
is much esteemed as food. The adult fish is said to attain to a weight of
20 lbs. and a length of 6 feet.
Other lung-fishes, eel-like in form, occur in the rivers of Africa and
South America. The African species is perhaps the better known of the two.
On the approach of the dry season it buries itself in the mud at the bottom
of the river, and when the latter becomes dry the mud hardens, holding the
fish a prisoner till the return of the wet season several months later. A
considerable number of these fishes have from time to time been dug out and
sent to England enclosed in the mud into which they had retreated. The
writer remembers assisting in the liberation of some during the last
meeting of the British Association at Oxford. So hard had the prison-walls
become that the mass had to be plunged into tepid water; this soon brought
about a dissolution of the soil, and in a short time the fishes were
swimming about as if in their native rivers. The African lung-fish is known
also as the MUD-FISH; its American relative as the LEPIDOSIREN, or SOUTH
AMERICAN MUD-FISH. In the American species, as in its African relative, the
fins are whip-like in form; but the hinder or ventral pair, which
correspond to the hind limbs of the higher vertebrated animals, are
remarkable in that in the male they develop during the breeding-season
numerous thread-like processes, richly supplied with blood, the function of
which is as yet unknown.
The young, both of the African and South American mud-fishes, bear external
gills closely resembling those of the tadpoles of the frog and other
Amphibia; traces of these gills remain throughout life in the African form.
CHIMÆRAS.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
BOTTLE-NOSED CHIMÆRA.
The remarkable structure in front of the mouth is probably an organ of
touch.]
Shark-like in their general characters, the CHIMÆRAS, now briefly
considered, are nevertheless regarded as constituting a very distinct group
of great antiquity.
The modern representatives of the group are few in number--five species in
all. Of these, the species shown in the accompanying photograph and the
SEA-CAT are remarkable for the possession of a movable tentacle on the
snout. The under surface of this tentacle is armed with small spines, and
fits into a hollow in the head. The first back-fin is supported in front by
a strong spine, and can be depressed into a sheath in the body-walls. The
teeth take the form of large plates closely united with the jaws, and
studded with hardened points, or "tritors."
One species widely distributed in the Mediterranean and Atlantic is taken
usually in deep water; it is the largest living species, often attaining a
yard in length. Its occurrence is, however, very erratic, months elapsing
without any being taken; at other times several will be caught in a few
days. A closely allied fish is often exposed for sale in the Lisbon
markets, where it ranks with the Sharks as a food-fish.
The egg of the BOTTLE-NOSED CHIMÆRA is perhaps the only egg with a mimetic
resemblance to a foreign object. It is elliptical in form, and bordered by
a fringe, so as to present a close resemblance to a piece of seaweed.
In the next chapter we begin the description of the great group of Fan- and
Fringe-finned Fishes, which, briefly, embrace all fishes not grouped among
the Lung-fishes, Chimæras, or Sharks. The anatomical characters used for
the purpose of classifying this great group are not discussed here, save
only in a few cases of prime importance, when features such as can readily
be observed, without demanding an intimate knowledge of anatomy, are
selected.
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
WHITE PERCH.
The so-called white perch is a species of bass, found in the rivers of the
United States of America.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
SEA-BASS.
This is another American member of the Perch Tribe.]
----
CHAPTER II.
_THE PERCH FAMILY._
BY JOHN BICKERDYKE, M.A.
The thick-set, golden-bronze, dark-barred, hog-backed fish known as the
PERCH has many striking characteristics, and is remarkable, among other
things, for the vast number of its relations scattered all over the world.
So numerous, indeed, are its cousins that ichthyologists have had to divide
the Perch Family into a large number of groups. There are various species
of perch found, as a matter of fact, in the fresh-waters and on all the
coasts of the temperate and tropical regions.
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS.
The introduction of this fish into the fresh-waters of Great Britain has
been frequently urged.]
The COMMON PERCH, which is widely distributed over Europe, Northern Asia,
and North America, is properly an inhabitant of rivers, lakes, and ponds,
but sometimes descends to brackish water. It runs up to about 5 lbs. in
weight, and is carnivorous, eating most kinds of fish small enough for its
swallow, including the fry of its own species, which are, in some waters,
an excellent bait.
In England perch spawn in the spring, the eggs being held in a band-like
mass of gelatinous matter deposited on weeds or the roots of trees not far
below the surface of the water. The spawn, as a matter of fact, is often
collected by fish-culturists and hatched out. Swans and water-fowl
generally eat the eggs by the million, and wherever perch are preserved
these birds should, so far as possible, be kept from the water during the
spawning-season. At Henley and other places on the Thames those interested
in fishery preservation place wire netting round the boughs and weeds where
perch have spawned, to prevent the eggs being eaten by swans and ducks.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BUTTER-FISH.
A native of the tropical parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean.]
Perch are usually termed voracious fish, but when large are extremely shy
and difficult of capture. There is a story told of a hungry little
lake-perch which had its eye hooked out by accident. The angler, leaving
the eye on the hook, lowered it into the water again, and a moment after
hauled out a one-eyed perch!
[Illustration: _Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt_] [_Washington._
AMERICAN "SUN-FISH."
Not to be confounded with the true Sun-fishes described in Chapter VII.]
Among the species of perch found in British waters are the RUFFE, or POPE,
a very small and common river-fish of no great value; the BASS, a fine
sporting sea-fish, which comes up the estuaries of rivers to spawn, and is
much sought after by the amateur sea-fisher; the COMBER, or GAPER, a fairly
common fish on the coasts of the West of England; a rare sea-fish known as
the DUSKY PERCH, caught occasionally off the South of England; the
STONE-BASS, also called the WRECK-FISH, from its habit of following
wreckage in the sea; and, lastly, the DENTEX, a rare species, not often
caught off the British coasts, which attains the weight of about 70 lbs.
On the Continent there is the PIKE-PERCH, a fish having the appearance of a
cross between a pike and a perch, and growing to 25 or 30 lbs.; this
voracious species is found in the lakes and rivers of the temperate
northern zones, and is much esteemed for food. In the tropics there are a
number of true SEA-PERCHES, which rarely enter fresh-water; they include
the ANTHIAS, most beautifully coloured with pink and yellow, of which there
are between 100 and 200 species. Some of the tropical sea-perches grow to
an enormous size, and there are instances recorded of bathers having been
attacked by them at Aden. Several monsters are stuffed in the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington. Among the coral-islands live many very
beautifully coloured sea-perches of various species. Perhaps the most
remarkable of all is the BOAR-FISH, or BASTARD DORY, which has a prolonged
snout, no doubt used for getting out its food from the crannies among rocks
and other awkward places.
----
CHAPTER III.
_SCALY-FINS, RED MULLETS, SEA-BREAMS, SCORPION-FISHES, SLIME-HEADS,
TASSEL-FISH, MEAGRES, AND SWORD-FISHES._
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.
For quaintness of shape, combined with beauty of coloration, the family of
Scaly-finned Fishes has no rivals. The name by which they are collectively
known refers to the scaly covering which invests the bases of what are
called the median fins--the fins seated along the middle of the back and
abdomen. A large number of distinct species have been described, the
majority of which occur in tropical seas, and especially in the
neighbourhood of coral-reefs; but some frequent the mouths of rivers, which
they occasionally ascend for a short distance. All are of relatively small
size, of carnivorous habits, and but little used for food.
The pattern of coloration commonly takes the form of bands or stripes,
those in which this pattern is most marked being known as ZEBRA-FISH. One
of the most beautiful is the EMPEROR-FISH, which ranges from the east coast
of Africa to the Indian and Malayan seas. The ground-colour of the body is
deep blue, relieved by some thirty golden-yellow stripes running from the
shoulder backwards to the tail. Crossing the head is a crescent-shaped bar
of black edged with yellow, whilst a similarly coloured patch runs upward
from the pectoral fins to within a short distance of the top of the back.
This species, which attains a length of 15 inches, is highly esteemed for
food in India. The most beautiful of all, perhaps, is the zebra-fish of the
Indo-Malayan seas, which has the ground-colour of yellow, striped with
vertical bars of blue edged with brown, a yellow tail, and an anal fin
barred with narrow blue lines.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
THE MISCALLED ARCHER-FISH.
So named on account of its supposed habit of shooting water at insects.]
A tubed-shaped mouth is a common feature of the fishes of this group, and
two Indian species in which this character is especially well developed
have acquired the habit of shooting therefrom a drop of water at insects
resting on overhanging foliage fringing the sea or along the banks of
rivers. Having sighted its quarry, it would seem the fish moves upwards to
the surface of the water, and with careful aim ejects its liquid bullet
with such unerring precision that its prey is invariably knocked down and
speedily seized. On this account these fishes are commonly known as
ARCHER-FISHES. The archer-fishes are sometimes kept in tubs of water, for
the purpose of affording amusement to their captors. Somehow the shooting
prowess of these fishes has been accredited to an allied form, shown in the
above photograph.
The peculiar shape of these fishes is sufficiently indicated by the
photograph already mentioned, but a large series would be necessary to show
the numerous variations, some of which are quite remarkable. The brilliancy
of the coloration is probably protective, since the most brightly coloured
forms live amongst coral-reefs built by gorgeous polyps, or coral-animals,
so that amidst such surroundings the fishes are quite inconspicuous.
The RED MULLETS occur chiefly in tropical seas, but one species inhabits
European waters, and occur sparsely around the British Islands.
Occasionally, however, these fishes visit the British coasts in vast
shoals, more than 5,000 having been taken in a single night in August,
1819, in Weymouth Bay, whilst in May, 1851, 10,000 were taken off Yarmouth
in one week.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
STRIPED RED MULLET.
The head is ornamented with brilliant blue and violet stripes.]
Although about forty species of red mullet are known, the European species
is the most prized as a food-fish. Its fame, indeed, extends backwards to
the time of the ancient Romans, who sought far and wide for large
specimens, paying ruinous prices for them. "Then, as nowadays," writes Dr.
Günther, "it was considered essential for the enjoyment of this delicacy
that the fish should exhibit the red colour of its integument. The Romans
brought it, for that purpose, living into the banqueting-room, and allowed
it to die in the hands of the guests, the red colour appearing in all its
brilliancy during the death-struggle of the fish. The fishermen of our
times attain the same object by scaling the fish immediately after its
capture, thus causing a permanent contraction of the chromatophores
containing the red pigment."
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BROWN SNAPPER.
The snappers are esteemed for the table.]
Beneath the chin of the red mullets will be noticed two long finger-like
processes; these can be thrust forward and moved about, or laid back in a
groove between the sides of the lower jaw, and are used to rake about in
the sand and gravel at the bottom of the sea to discover burrowing shrimps
or worms. Even dead food they are said to feel with these barbels, as they
are called, before biting. The red colour has been observed in the Marine
Aquarium at Plymouth to become darker when the fish rise from the ground,
and to pale away when they descend.
Two forms of red mullet occur in European waters, but it is not yet finally
settled whether they represent distinct species. The one is the plain RED
MULLET, of a rich carmine-red above and silvery white below; the other the
STRIPED MULLET, or SUR-MULLET, which has a beautiful red colour on the back
and sides, and from three to five bright yellow bands passing from head to
tail. Till recently the striped form was regarded as the female of the
plain red mullet, but many authorities incline to the view that the two are
distinct species.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
RED SEA-BREAM.
Some species of sea-bream occasionally enter fresh-water.]
The SEA-BREAMS are fishes of the tropical and temperate regions,
represented by a considerable number of species. Only one is at all
abundant on the British coasts, and this occurs especially on the south and
south-west coasts of England and Ireland. It is of an orange-scarlet colour
above, and somewhat silvery on the sides, with a large black spot on the
shoulder.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
SNAPPER.
An Australian species of Sea-bream.]
Several species of sea-bream occur in Australia, where they are known as
SNAPPERS. One of the largest of these, which attains a length of more than
3 feet and a weight of over 40 lbs., is not only considered excellent
eating, but is also the most popular sport-yielding fish of that colony.
The ancient Romans kept a species of sea-bream, the GILT-HEAD, in their
vivariums, where it grew extremely fat. This species is said to stir up the
sand with its tail, to discover buried shell-fish. It is particularly fond
of mussels, and the noise it makes in crunching them between its jaws is
loud enough to be heard by the fishermen.
Nearly allied to the Sea-breams are a group known, for want of a better
name, as the THICK-RAYED FISHES, some of which rank as of prime importance
among the food-fishes of the British Colonies. A general idea of the shape
of the members of this family may be gathered from the photograph of an
Australian GROPER. The name of LONG-FIN, given to one species, is bestowed
on account of the fact that one or more of the rays of the breast-fin on
each side is drawn out into a filament, often of very considerable length,
which is used as an organ of touch. In other species, where the elongation
is less, and more rays have undergone modification, an auxiliary organ of
locomotion is the result. At the Cape of Good Hope species of long-fin are
very abundant, and preserved in large quantities for export.
Other members of this family lack the elongated fin-rays altogether. The
fishes known as the TUMPETERS of New Zealand and Tasmania belong to this
section. They are considered by the colonists the best flavoured of any
native fishes, and are eaten smoked as well as fresh. But two species are
known, one ranging from 30 to 60 lbs. in weight, and the other, a much
smaller form, scarcely attaining a weight of 20 lbs.; the latter is the
more abundant of the two, though confined to the coast of New Zealand.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
KING-SNAPPER.
A member of the group of Slime-heads.]
In the SCORPION-FISHES we have a small group including several forms
remarkable for their ugliness, having added to an uncouth shape skinny
appendages, which, projecting from the body, resemble rather leaves of
seaweed than parts of the fish. These appendages, by their waving motion,
serve either to attract other fishes or to afford concealment by their
resemblance to the surrounding weeds. The ground-dwelling forms have some
of the rays of the breast-fin modified into finger-like processes, like
those of the Gurnards, by which they both crawl and feel. Some members of
the family bear a rather close resemblance to the Sea-perches. In addition
to their ugliness, some have become especially offensive by the
transformation of certain of the fin-spines into poison-organs.
One of the ugliest, and at the same time most dreaded, of the family is the
STONE-FISH figured on page 619. Each spine of the back fin is grooved. At
the lower end of these grooves lies a pear-shaped bag containing a milky
poison, which is conveyed to the point of the spine by ducts lying in the
grooves. The native fishermen carefully avoid handling these fish; but
persons walking with bare feet in the sea step upon the spines, and,
receiving the poison into the wound, are killed.
[Illustration: Photo by _W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
AUSTRALIAN GROPER.
Highly esteemed as a food-fish.]
All the scorpion-fish are carnivorous, and differ from the majority of
fishes in that they produce their young alive. The smallest of the
Spiny-finned fishes are members of this group, some scarcely exceeding 1½
inch in length. They are common amid the coral-reefs of the Pacific.
Passing over some comparatively unimportant members of this family, we come
to a small group of vegetable-feeders from the Indo-Pacific, of which the
TEUTHIS is one of the best known representatives. They are chiefly
remarkable for the fact that the abdominal cavity is surrounded by a
complete ring of bones, and that the air-bladder is forked at both ends.
Some are rather brilliantly coloured.
The SLIME-HEADS, which constitute the next family, derive their name from
the presence on the head of large mucus-bearing cavities covered with a
thin skin. The eyes are always of great size, indicating a deep-sea
habitat, or at least a depth only dimly lighted. All indeed, save two
species, descend considerably below the surface, one species having been
found in 345 fathoms. The species of one genus are believed to inhabit
still greater depths, for their eyes are extremely small, indicating
degeneration through disuse. The copious supply of slime is also an
indication of a deep-sea habitat. The members of this family vary much in
size and shape, but the most remarkable of all is a small and rare species
found off Japan, in which the scales have joined together to form a
perfectly solid armour, whilst the paired fins of the abdomen have been
reduced to a single spine, with a few vestiges of other rays.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
INDIAN WEAVER-FISH.
One of the group of scorpion-fishes.]
The next family, a comparatively small one, includes the TASSEL-FISH, so
called from the long and delicate feelers springing from the base of the
breast-fins, of which they originally formed a part. Varying in number from
three to fourteen, these feelers can be moved independently of the fins. As
these fishes all live in muddy water, and have the eyes obscured by films,
such tactile organs are necessary, in order to enable them to procure their
food. In some species they attain an enormous length. The flesh is highly
esteemed. Some species have an air-bladder, which yields a good kind of
isinglass, and forms an article of commerce in the East Indies. The
majority are small species, but some attain to a length of 4 feet.
No less important than the preceding group, from an economic point of view,
are the MEAGRES, a family of coast-haunting species of the tropical and
sub-tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans, exhibiting a special preference
for the mouths of large rivers, into which they freely enter. Some, indeed,
have become entirely fresh-water species.
One of the most interesting of the family is the species to which the name
of DRUM has been given, from the extraordinary noise which it
produces--though some other kinds emit similar noises. "These sounds," Dr.
Günther writes, "can better be expressed by the word 'drumming' than any
other. They appear to be very frequently heard by persons in vessels lying
at anchor off the coasts of the United States, where these fishes are very
common. The precise method by which these sounds are produced is not known.
Since they are accompanied by a tremulous motion of the vessel, it seems
more probable that they are due to the beating of the tails of the fish
against the bottom of the ship to get rid of the parasites with which that
part of their body is infested." The drum attains a length of more than 4
feet and a weight of over 100 lbs.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
RAGGED SEA-SCORPION.
A second representative of the scorpion-fishes.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
STONE-FISH.
A species of scorpion-fish dreaded on account of its poisonous spines.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
TASSEL-FISH.
Valued for the isinglass it yields.]
Though forming but a single small family, the SWORD-FISHES are nevertheless
to be reckoned amongst the most interesting of living fishes. Attaining a
length of from 12 to 15 feet, exceeding vigilant, pugnacious, and powerful,
they are amongst the most formidable of all fishes. They derive their name
from the great development of the upper jaw, which forms a huge, tapering,
sword-like weapon, covered along its under-surface with numerous small
teeth. They attack, apparently without provocation, whales and other large
cetaceans, which they invariably succeed in killing by repeated thrusts of
the sword. It appears that occasionally sword-fishes make a mistake, and,
after the fashion of Don Quixote, tilt at windmills, in the shape of large
vessels, under the impression that they are whales. But this most grave
error of judgment brings with it a heavy penalty, in that, having no power
to make effective backward movements, the sword remains fixed, and is
eventually broken off in the struggle for freedom. Frank Buckland reminds
us that in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, is a
section of the bow of a whaler impaled by one of these swords. That portion
of the sword which remains is 1 foot long and 5 inches in circumference.
"At one single blow," he writes, "the fish had plunged his sword through,
and completely transfixed 13½ inches of solid timber. The sword had of
course broken off and prevented a dangerous leak in the ship." In the
British Museum is a second specimen of a ship's side in which the sword of
a sword-fish is fixed.
[Illustration: Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
SWORD-FISH.
The huge back-fin is said to be often used as a sail when the fish is
floating near the surface of the water.]
----
CHAPTER IV.
_HAIR-TAILS, HORSE-MACKERELS, SEA-BATS, DORIES, MACKERELS, SUCKING-FISHES,
WEAVERS, FROG-FISHES, ANGLER-FISHES, BULL-HEADS, AND GURNARDS._
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.
[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Ashenden._] [_Cape Town._
SNOEK.
This fish is also known as the Barracuda.]
Of the family of HAIR-TAILS perhaps the most important members are the
SCABBARD- or FROST-FISH and the SNOEK. The first is common in the
Mediterranean and the warmer parts of the Atlantic, extending northwards to
the south coast of England, where it occurs at rare intervals. It is also
known in New Zealand, where it is called the Frost-fish, and furthermore is
regarded as one of the most delicious fish of the colony, its flesh being
fine, tender, and of delicate flavour. On this account it is much in
demand, but the supply is very uncertain. The conditions of capture,
indeed, of this fish are unparalleled in the annals of fishing, for it can
be taken neither with the rod nor the net. The would-be captor has to wait
patiently under favourable conditions on the seashore for the fish to come
and cast itself up on the beach. This happens with tolerable certainty
during the autumn and winter months, when the sea is calm and the nights
frosty. Then the frost-fish come ashore alive, wriggling through the surf
on to the beach. Two explanations have been offered for this extraordinary
conduct. One is that the fish commits suicide; being pursued by a shark or
other enemy, it prefers uncertain life on land to certain death at sea! The
other and more probable hypothesis has it that the air-bladder of the fish
becomes distended to enable it to reach the surface for food--for it is a
deep-sea fish--and that the keen, frosty air prevents it from compressing
the bladder and returning to the depths; thus it gradually drifts into
shallow water, is hurled shorewards by the surf, and finally wriggles
itself on to the beach to die. The long stretches of sandy beach a few
miles from Dunedin are a favourite resort for frost-fish catching. Two or
three men camp out at the foot of the cliffs overhanging the beach,
pitching a tent and lighting a huge fire, so as to render life bearable
during the long vigils. The "fishing" consists in perambulating the beach
up and down shortly before dawn, and keeping a sharp look-out in the surf
for the silver streak which betokens the approach of a victim. As soon as a
fish is descried, all that remains to be done is to seize hold of it and
drag it ashore, if it has not already stranded itself, and then dispatch
it.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
FRINGED HORSE-MACKEREL.
Note the great length of the fin-rays.]
[Illustration: _Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co._] [_Chancery Lane, W.C._
HORSE-MACKEREL.
The strong keel formed by ridged scales running down each side of the tail
is a characteristic feature.]
The BARRACUDA, or SNOEK, is likewise a New Zealand species, attaining a
length of 5 feet. It is found also at the Cape and South Australia. In New
Zealand the flesh is exported to Mauritius and Batavia as a regular article
of commerce, being worth £17 per ton.
[Illustration: _Photos by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
JOHN DORIES.
These two photographs show the difference in the jaws when protruded and
when at rest.]
The HORSE-MACKERELS, or SCADS, are represented by some very bizarre-looking
forms. It is a large family, belonging to tropical and temperate seas. One
species, the COMMON HORSE MACKEREL, is common in British seas. Many members
of the family have the hinder portion of the body on each side armed with
large plates, well seen in the accompanying photographs; others have the
median fins produced into long filamentous processes. All are eatable, and
some highly esteemed as food. One of the most remarkable is the PILOT-FISH
of tropical and temperate seas, occurring occasionally off the British
coasts. It derives its name from its habit of accompanying ships and large
sharks. From this habit of accompanying ships it was regarded by the
ancients as a sacred fish, since they considered it pointed out the way to
embarrassed sailors, and announced the vicinity of land by suddenly
disappearing. The close companionship between the pilot-fish and the shark
has excited much comment, many observers believing that the former was of
great use to the latter in guiding it to its food. How this is done is
graphically described by Dr. Meyer, who writes: "The pilot swims constantly
in front of the shark; we ourselves have seen three instances in which the
shark was led by the pilot. When the shark neared the ship, the pilot swam
close to the snout or near one of the pectoral fins of the animal.
Sometimes he darted rapidly forwards or sidewards, as if looking for
something, and constantly went back again to the shark. When we threw
overboard a piece of bacon fastened on a great hook, the shark was about
twenty paces from the ship; with the quickness of lightning the pilot came
up, smelt at the dainty, and instantly swam back again to the shark,
swimming many times round his snout and splashing, as if to give him exact
information as to the bacon. The shark now began to put himself in motion,
the pilot showing him the way, and in a moment he was fast upon the hook."
As Dr. Günther remarks, commenting on this account, one may entertain
reasonable doubts as to the usefulness of the pilot to the shark in this
instance! It is probable that the pilots follow the sharks for the sake of
feeding on fragments scattered by the latter, and also for the sake of
picking off the parasites with which sharks, in common with other large
fish, are infested; furthermore, the pilot, being but a small fish, obtains
greater security from enemies when in the company of its giant friend. The
habit of seeking the company of more powerful or otherwise offensive
animals is apparent also in other members of this family, the young of the
horse-mackerel seeking shelter beneath the "umbrella" of a jelly-fish till
they are big enough to defend themselves.
But the most remarkable members of this family are the SEA-BATS. Few in
species and confined to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific,
they are nevertheless in those regions very common. Although not used as
food-fishes, they are of extreme interest on account of their shape, which
is nearly oval and much compressed from side to side, and the form of their
fins, which in some species are excessively developed. Young sea-bats
differ markedly from the adults in the much greater length of the fin-rays,
so much so that they have frequently been described as distinct species.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [Milford-on-Sea.
LONG-FINNED DORY.
This species closely resembles a fossil form. It has nothing to do with the
True Dories, but is one of the Coral-fishes, and is placed here for the
sake of contrast.]
We pass now to the DORIES, which recall the Sea-bats in the oval and
compressed form of the body. The resemblance to sea-bats is, indeed, so
close that the latter are frequently described as dories. The mouth of the
members of this family is so constructed that, when opened, the upper jaw
is thrust forward, and the whole mouth forms a kind of long tube. Dories
inhabit the seas of the temperate regions, two species being fairly common
in British waters. The best known of these two is perhaps the John Dory,
the largest specimens of which attain to a weight of 18 lbs. Mr. Cunningham
has described the very peculiar way in which the dory captures its prey.
"It does not," he writes, "overtake it by superior speed like the mackerel,
or lie in wait for it like the angler, but stalks it and approaches it by
stealth. It is able to do this in consequence of the extreme thinness of
its body and the peculiar movement of its hinder dorsal and ventral fins.
The dory places itself end on towards the fish it desires to devour, and in
this position it is evident that it excites no alarm on the part of its
prey. The appearance of the dory, seen in this way, is a mere line in the
water, to which no particular significance can be attached. I have not
particularly noticed the effect of the ribbons of membrane which project
from the dorsal fin. But I have observed that the movements of the dory are
very gradual, except in turning; it alters the position of its body by a
turn of the tail or side-fins, and then swims forward by vibrating the
second dorsal and ventral, a movement which causes very slight disturbance
of the water. The appearance of the dory in these actions is suggestive of
suppressed excitement, his eyes being fixed on his prey. I do not recollect
seeing him actually swallow another fish, but have no doubt that he gets
near enough to a sprat, for example, without alarming it, to seize it by
the sudden elongation of his curious jaws." The way in which these jaws are
elongated is admirably shown in the photograph on page 622.
Passing now to the Mackerel Family, we arrive at a group of considerable
importance from an economic point of view. Extremely active, migrating, and
predaceous, mackerel swim in shoals and seize their prey with great
voracity, hunting merely by sight, and snapping at anything moving through
the water, especially if it is silvery, like a small surface-fish. The
various species differ greatly in size, ranging from the Common Mackerel of
about 18 inches long to the giant Tunny weighing nearly half a ton.
COMMON MACKEREL swim in vast shoals, or "schools," as they are called, and
one half a mile wide and at least twenty miles long is on record. Mackerel
feed on the young of other fish and small fish generally, and, when these
are not to be had, on minute crabs and shrimps. They are very prolific, a
single mackerel laying from 430,000 to 540,000 eggs.
[Illustration: _Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co._] [_Chancery Lane, W.C._
JOHN DORY.
In the centre of each side is a round black spot surrounded by a pale
yellow ring.]
The TUNNIES are amongst the largest of the surface-fishes of the ocean.
Abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, they occur occasionally in British
waters. For centuries the flesh of the tunny has been held in high regard
as food, and it is frequently seen in the Lisbon markets at the present
day. The flesh, which is as red as beef, is cut up and sold by weight. The
BONITO closely resembles the tunny, but is a much smaller fish, which preys
largely upon flying-fishes, which it follows for long distances.
Peculiarly interesting are the SUCKING-FISHES. The name by which they are
commonly known is bestowed on account of the presence of a large oval
sucker, placed on the top of the head and extending backwards over the
shoulders--an organ formed by modification of the back-fin. By means of
this sucking-disk these fishes are enabled to attach themselves to sharks,
turtles, ships, or any large object floating in the sea. The hold which
they obtain is so strong that it is almost impossible to remove them by
force. Being poor swimmers, this method of transportation enables them to
pass rapidly to fresh feeding-grounds.
The natives of Zanzibar, Cuba, and Torres Straits are said to employ
sucking-fishes in the capture of sleeping turtles, the fish being secured
by a ring round the tail, and liberated as soon as a sufficiently near
approach to the quarry has been made. About ten different species are
known, the bulkiest of which attains a length of 2 feet and a weight of
about 8 lbs., a longer but more slender species measuring 3 feet.
Carnivorous, of small size, and feeble swimming-powers, the family of the
WEAVERS are remarkable rather for their disagreeable qualities than
anything else, though at least one species is declared to be excellent
eating. The STAR-GAZER is a particularly ugly-looking fish, especially
noteworthy in that the eyes, which are on the top of the head, can be
raised and depressed at pleasure, whilst the heavy jaw is armed with a
freely moving tentacle, which, waving about in the current of water drawn
in at the mouth, serves as a lure to attract small fishes, the rest of the
body being concealed between stones at the bottom of the sea.
[Illustration: _Photo by W Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
SUCKING-FISH.
By means of the sucker on the top of its head this fish attaches itself to
ships and larger fishes.]
The COMMON WEAVER is a well-known British fish, much dreaded on account of
the poisonous wounds which it inflicts unless most carefully handled, the
poison being introduced by the spines of the back-fin and gill-cover. No
special poison-organs seem to be developed, but the mucous secretion around
the spines has poisonous properties. As the flesh of this fish is extremely
palatable, fishermen remove the spines at once directly after capture.
Should a wound be inflicted, great suffering and occasionally death
follows.
[Illustration: _Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co._] [_Chancery Lane, W.C._
LARGER WEAVER.
The spines of the first back-fin and of the gill-cover are highly
poisonous.]
Passing over one or two unimportant groups, we come to the family of the
FROG-FISHES, which, but for the fact that many of its members are
poisonous, calls for no special comment here. One species, however, from
the coasts of Central America, possesses the distinction of having the most
highly developed poison-organs of any fishes, being equalled only by the
Venomous Snakes. The poison-weapons are a spine on the gill-cover and two
spines of the back-fin. The former is of the same shape as the hollow
venom-fang of a snake, perforated at both ends. A little bag containing the
poison lies at the base of the spine, and when pressed by the spine as it
makes its puncture ejects its contents into the body of the latter, whence
it escapes from the hole in the top. The structure of the back-spines is
similar.
[Illustration: _Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co._] [_Chancery Lane, W.C._
ANGLER-FISH.
This hideous species is also called the Frog-fish.]
The family of the ANGLER-FISHES contain more strange forms than any other.
Living on the sea-bottom and seeking their prey by stealth, angler-fishes
do not need powerful swimming-muscles; consequently the size of the body
and tail has become considerably reduced, so that the head, relatively to
the rest of the body, is unusually large. The head, jaws, and belly are
indeed of great size and capacity. The side or paired fins are not used for
swimming, but have become modified to serve as feet, enabling the fish to
shuffle along the ground. A further remarkable feature of these fishes is
seen in the back-fin, the rays of which are very long, the foremost being
provided with a flag-like flap of skin at the top, extremely sensitive to
touch, and playing a very important part in the capture of food. It seems
that the fish commonly lies concealed on the sea-bottom, with this "flag"
erected. From its general resemblance to the surrounding seaweed it is
quite inconspicuous, so that passing fishes take no trouble to avoid it. If
by any chance they should touch it, however, the jaws beneath open
instantly, and the unfortunate trespasser is suddenly engulfed. This
elaborate and sensitive mechanism has been likened to a spring-trap, which
is always set, and never betrays its presence. It seems probable, however,
that this flag serves also as a lure, passing fishes being occasionally
attracted by the waving flap of skin. Should they become sufficiently
curious as to proceed to touch it, capture in the manner above described is
certain. Certain deep-sea forms have a luminous organ in the place of the
flap of skin, and this certainly seems to act only as a lure.
Angler-fishes are found all over the world; some, as we have seen, are
bottom-fishes, some inhabit deep sea, whilst others lie hidden amongst
floating seaweed, to which they cling by means of their arm-like fins. Only
one species occurs in British waters. Its method of spawning is remarkable,
in that the eggs are laid in the form of large raft-like sheets, which
float on the surface of the sea. The number of eggs laid by a single fish
has been computed to be 1,345,000. A single sheet of spawn may measure from
2 to 3 feet in breadth and from 25 to 30 feet long.
[Illustration: _Photo by by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._]
[_Milford-on-Sea._
BUTTERFLY-GURNARD.
The head of all gurnards is encased in an armour of bony plates.]
The BULL-HEADS and GURNARDS, constituting the next family, are
characterised by the spiny armature of the head and the great size of the
breast-fins. The former are represented in British waters by four species,
one of which, the MILLER'S-THUMB, inhabits fresh-water. The marine species
include the SEA-SCORPION and FATHER-LASHER.
The BULL-HEADS on the Indian and Australian coasts are represented by the
closely allied FLAT-HEADS, or CROCODILE-FISHES, in which the head, as its
name implies, is much depressed, and fully armed with spines, which are
highly poisonous, and cause a violent irritation. These fishes live in
shallow water, lying on the bottom, with which their colours harmonise so
completely that they are practically invisible. The very large ventral
fins--those seen in the photograph immediately behind the breast-fins--are
of great use in locomotion.
[Illustration: _Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co._] [_Chancery Lane, W.C._
REEL-GURNARD.
The curious finger-like processes are used as organs of touch as well as
locomotion.]
The GURNARDS are well-known fishes, common on the coasts of Britain, and
extending from tropical to arctic seas. Their curiously shaped heads give
them a very quaint appearance. One of the most remarkable peculiarities of
these fishes is the separate condition of some of the rays of the
breast-fins, which form finger-like organs, used to feel the ground and
rake over loose stones, to discover small shrimps and other animals hidden
underneath. Furthermore, the gurnards are peculiar in that they are enabled
to communicate one with another by means of sounds produced by the
expulsion of air from one compartment of the air-bladder to another. The
females are much more common than the males, and also slightly larger. The
young are remarkable for the enormous size of the breast-fins, though even
in the adult these are unusually large.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
BAR-TAILED FLAT-HEAD.
A shallow-water fish.]
[Illustration: _Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S._] [_Milford-on-Sea._
ROCK FLAT-HEAD.
About forty species of flat-heads are known.]
Close allies of the Gurnards are the FLYING-GURNARDS, which, by reason of
the extreme development of the breast-fins, are enabled to take flying
leaps out of the water. One species is common in the Mediterranean. The
flying-gurnard is not to be mistaken for the true "flying-fish," or
flying-herring, described later.
The curious mail-clad ARMED BULL-HEAD, or POGGE, commonly taken in
shrimp-nets, is an ally of the flying-gurnard.
----
CHAPTER V.
_LUMP-SUCKERS, GOBIES, BLENNIES, BARRACUDAS, GREY MULLETS, STICKLEBACKS AND
THEIR ALLIES, GARPIKE, AND FLYING-FISHES._
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.