File:Fish stories alleged and experienced, with a little history natural and unnatural (1909) (14762121404).jpg

Identifier: fishstoriesalleg00hold (find matches)
Title: Fish stories alleged and experienced, with a little history natural and unnatural
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Holder, Charles Frederick, 1851-1915 Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931, joint author
Subjects: Fishes
Publisher: New York, H. Holt and company
Contributing Library: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

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tto distinguish between them. Specimens in a tank grow paler and less highly colored,and the observer sees a fish perhaps a foot long, with a longmuzzle, a soft dorsal fin from head to tail, with five uprightpronounced zigzag angular bands of darker colors withother spots and tints of pure white—altogether a beautifulfish. Even the eye partakes of the general coloring, and hasa peculiarity of that of several fishes, of following one about,and acting seemingly independent. The offending fish referred to was removed from the tankgiving the kelp fishes the entire room, and one day I sawthat the male had assumed a striking nuptial garb. All hiscolors were highly accentuated and brilliant; what had beenwhite was now lavender and blazing silver; the dark anglesin the zigzag barring took on darker tints, and were em-phasized by countless hues of lavender, yellow, blue andseeming gold, while patches of silver, old rose, lavenderand white appeared here and there the entire length of thefish.
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MALE AND FEMALE KELP FISH.Mimicking Kelp over ihcir nest. Santa Catalina Zoological Station. The Love Affairs of Blennies in the Kelp 235 The fish was seemingly conscious of his gorgeous colors.His long dorsal fin was erect and resplendent with all shadesand tints from green to lavender, vibrating and scintillatingin the soft light, and the fish was alert, on the qui vive, fullysensible of the importance of the situation and his responsi-bilities. In the tank were several small bunches of a deep-maroonseaweed, about four or five inches high, and as I watchedthe fishes, the female, large and heavy, approached the weed,seemed to examine it, passing around it several times; thenI observed her swim around the weed pressing the ventralsurface to it. She had caught the branches together by apure, white cord, exact in its resemblance to the silk of asilkworm, the cord being very large, almost the size of asmall eyeglass cord, or a thick white thread, the white beingof a dainty variety. This

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