It will live quite well in a glass tank of sea-water; someone who kept many interesting fish says of this Blenny:—­

“Our little Butterfly Blenny was not often to be seen.  It was using an old whelk shell for a nursery.  In this broken old shell the dainty fish was able to hide, and was so nervous that we seldom saw it.  But we placed some food near the hole in the shell, and were rewarded by the sight of the Butterfly’s head, and its lovely eyes, each with a little movable tassel above it.”

[Illustration:  A SMOOTH BLENNY]

Hidden under weed and stones is another small brownish fish of the shore, the Gunnell or Butter-fish.  You may turn it out of its snug hiding-place, but you will have a hard task to catch it, even in a small rock-pool, and, once caught, it slips through your fingers like an eel.  Its body is eel-shaped, with a narrow fin on the back, and covered with a layer of slime.  It well deserves the name of Butter-fish.

The eggs of this strange little fish are rolled into a mass by the two parents.  By curling their long, slimy bodies around the eggs, a closely-packed ball is the result.  This precious ball of eggs is then taken care of, and guarded by the two fish.  In this nursery both the father and mother fish take their share as guardians.

EXERCISES

1.  Name three rock-pool fish. 2.  Describe the Pipe-fish. 3.  How does the Sand Goby anchor itself? 4.  In what ways are these rock-pool fish so well fitted to live in such places?

LESSON X

SOME CURIOUS FISHES

Now and again that queer fish called the Sea-horse is found by our coast; a little brown fish, with bluish-white spots and lines on the sides and tail.  But Sea-horses are common in warmer seas, in the banks of seaweed where they love to dwell.  You would never guess that these curious creatures were fish.

The shape of the head, and the curved neck, remind you of a horse.  It is also rather like the knight of the chess-board; or it may make you think of the dragon of the fable; but, really, the Sea-horse is like nothing on the earth, or in the waters.  Nature has given it a special pattern of its own.

Sea-horses use their twisty tails as monkeys do, clinging to the seaweed with them.  They swim along slowly, in an upright position.  Every now and then they seem to be falling forward on their noses, and pull themselves up again, only to begin falling a moment after.  It is fun to see them play hide-and-seek among the weed in an aquarium.  Some Sea-horses are like floating scraps of torn weed; this, of course, hides them from the eyes of enemies.

[Illustration:  SEA-HORSES]

They have no teeth, but a long mouth like a pipe; so you can be sure they eat only the smallest sea-creatures.  To add to his odd look, the Seahorse moves his eyes in a comic fashion.  One eye may roll round and look at you, while the other gazes forward.