Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/156

Rh the sea-weeds for minute animals. It was pleasant to see with what diligence and sobriety, for he was never eager or in a hurry, he pried into all the recesses of the leafy weeds, especially the bushy Chondrus, taking all positions and attitudes in order to scrutinize the inmost corners; and with encouraging success, for he was continually picking off something, invisbleinvisible [sic] indeed to my eye, but eaten with evident gusto, to judge by the smacking of his lips. I suppose these were chiefly Entomostraca, or perhaps Infusoria, which the globular crystalline lens of his eye magnified at the short distance at which he saw them. This distance, which was commonly about half-an-inch, was made sufficiently manifest, by the action of the fish, for the snap was made doubtless the moment the prey was seen. I never once saw the Corkwing attempt to take or even notice any floating atoms of food, but only such as was attached, either to the Algæ or to stones.

This pretty little fish came to an untimely end in a singular way. A large specimen of the Parasitic Actinia was in the Tank, a species which shoots out its thread-bearing filaments in unusual abundance and to great length, when alarmed. I suppose the Corkwing must have accidentally touched the Zoophyte in passing, but this I did not see. On looking at the Aquarium, I saw the little fish with one of the filaments sticking to its mouth, evidently the accident of that very instant. It was greatly distressed; darted hither and thither wildly as if in agony; soon lay down on its side, and though two or three times it started up and essayed to swim, it was presently dead.