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Show 1878.] MR. F. DAY ON FEAR AND ANGER IN FISHES. 217 small ones together in a glass vessel gave one away ; the other refused to eat, and showed evident symptoms of unhappiness until his companion was restored : Pennant, how the River-Bullhead " deposits its spawn in a hole it forms in the gravel, and quits it with great reluctance:" General Hardwicke, how the Gouramy (Osphromenus olfax), in the Mauritius, forms a nest amongst the herbage growing in the shallow water in the sides of tanks. Here the parents continue to watch the place with the greatest vigilance, driving away any interloping fish. The amphibious walking fish of Mysore (Ophiocephalus striatus) appears to make a nest very similar to that of the Gouramy, and over it the male keeps guard ; but should he be killed or captured, the vacant post is filled by his partner (Colonel Puckle). When very young the fishes keep with, and are defended by their parents, but so soon as they are sufficiently strong to capture prey for themselves they are driven away to seek their own subsistence (see ' Fishes of India,' p. 362). But it is not only these monogamous amphibious fishes which show an affection for their eggs and also for their fry, but even the little Etroplus maculatus has been observed to be equally fond of its ova. ' The eggs are not very numerous, and are deposited in the mud at the bottom of the stream, and, when hatched, both parents guard their young for many days, vigorously attacking any large fish that passes near them' \ " Although the proceedings of the members of the marine and estuary genus Arius and its allies show not quite so distinctly signs of affection, still it must be a well-developed instinct which induces the male to carry about the eggs in his mouth until hatched, and to remove them in this manner when danger is imminent. I have taken the ova just ready for the young to come forth out of the mouth and fauces of'the parent (male) fish ; and in every example dissected there was no trace of food in the intestinal tract. " At many temples in India fishes are called to receive food by means of ringing bells or musical sounds. Carew, in Cornwall, is said to have called his Grey Mullet together by making a noise like chopping with a cleaver. Lacepede relates that some fishes, which had been kept in the basins of the Tuileries for more than a century, would come when called by their names, and that, in many parts of Germany, Trout, Carp, and Tench are summoned to their food by the sound of a bell. These instances are doubtless mostly due to the fishes having learnt by experience that on the hearing certain sounds they may expect food. But Lacepede mentions that some were able to distinguish their individual names; and the same occurs in India. Lieutenant Conolly remarked upon seeing numerous fishes coming to the Ghaut at Sidhnath to be fed when called ; and on ' expressing our admiration of the size of the fish, " Wait," said a bystander, " until you have seen Raghu." The Brahmin called out his name in a peculiar tone of voice; but he would not hear. I threw in handful after handful of ottah (flour) with the same success, and was just leaving the ghaut, despairing and doubting, 1 Jerdon, 'Madras Journal of Literature and Science,' 1849. p. 143. |