Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/416

408 The sunfishes make a brilliant display, as do the pearl roaches caught in Harlem Mere at Central Park. For downright homeliness the great eighty-pound channel catfish from the Mississippi takes the first place. The bow fin (Amia) and the gar (Lepidosteus) always attract attention, together with the carp and the whitefish that come from the Great Lakes.

Along with the fresh-water fishes are three groups of amphibians: great bullfrogs from New York State, the mud puppy (Necturus) from the great lakes, and the hellbender (Cryptobranchiis) from the Ohio River. There is always a group of visitors in front of the tanks of the two latter animals, watching the beautiful gills of the mud puppy and commenting on the loose suit of clothes worn by the hellbender.

On the salt-water side, the tropical fishes furnish by far the greatest beauty and attraction. Their gaudy colors and strange forms are in strong contrast to the somewhat monotonous hues of most of our coast-wise fishes, but both are harmonious with their surroundings. In the clear, limpid waters of Bermuda and the West Indies, under a tropic sun, the 'sea gardens' flourish, and great purple sea-fans, bright saffron sea-rods, large clumps of bright red and vivid green sea-weeds make a brilliant setting for the higher forms of life.

 The world below the brine.

Forests at the bottom of the sea—the branches and leaves,

Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds—the thick tangle, the openings and the pink turf,

Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white and gold—the play of light through the water,

Dumb swimmers there among the rocks—coral, gluten, grass, rushes—and the aliment of the swimmers,

Sluggish existence grazing there, suspended, or slowly crawling close to the bottom.

In such environment the beautiful Angel-fish, with its long, streaming, yellow fins and sky-blue body, is no longer conspicuous as in the tanks. The ruddy Hind conceals itself easily at the bottom, while the little Four-eyed-fish (so called), brilliant in golden livery with jetblack markings, vanishes from sight by merely shifting its position. On the other hand, the Parrot fishes—which range in color from bright grass green through blues and browns—are boldly conspicuous in their warning colors, for their flesh is poisonous to other animals, including man. The Squirrel-fish, in his brilliant scarlet coat, is equally conspicuous; for woe to the unwary captor that attempts to swallow him! His strong, sharp spine and rough scales would lacerate the maw of the hardiest carnivore, and he swims about among them free from any fear.

These tropical fishes exhibit the function of changing their color in a high degree. The great Groupers are worth watching as they move