Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/215

Rh. The great majority of fresh-water fishes are found here, though associated with many that are exclusively marine. A considerable proportion of the species are ground-feeders; fishes which have the powers of swimming feebly developed, and are compelled to grovel on the mud at the bottom, and lie in wait for passing prey. An example of this kind we saw in the Frog-fishes, among the Spinous-finned Order, but this is an exception to the general habits of that energetic group, and indeed is by some zoologists excluded from its pale.

The Order before us is surpassed by the preceding in elegance of form and brilliancy of colour. Not that it is absolutely deficient of either: the Herrings afford examples of the former, and not a few of the great Salmon Family exhibit both qualities in high perfection; but, generally speaking, they are not prevalent in the Order. In a property, however, of much greater importance, their utility in contributing to the sustenance of man, the Soft-finned tribes vastly surpass all the other Orders of Fishes put together. Among the marine species, the various kinds of Herring, Pilchard, Sprat, and Shad; the Cod, Whiting, Pollack, Hake, Ling, and Barbot; the Plaice, Dab, Flounder, Halibut, Turbot, Brill and Sole;—among the freshwater species, the Carps, Barbel, Tench, Bream, Roach, Dace, and Chub; the Pike; the Eels; the various kinds of Trout and Salmon, the Char, the Gwyniad, and the Pollan, including their varieties and kindred species, may be mentioned as being all of more or less value to man. Many of these, as is well known, are the subjects of important fisheries, the sources of