. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . tacles or streamers of their protectors soperfectly that it is almost impossible to distinguish a large number of jelly fishes I have examined on theFlorida reef there was rarely one that did not have at-tendants in the guise of young fishes. Even the beautifulyet deadly Portuguese man-of-war had several attendants,marvelous in their mimicry, as each fish (Nomeus) was theexact tint of the blue tentacles of the fairylike animal. The rate at which fishes grow and the age which theyattain, are interesting subjects of study. Some grow veryrap
. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . tacles or streamers of their protectors soperfectly that it is almost impossible to distinguish a large number of jelly fishes I have examined on theFlorida reef there was rarely one that did not have at-tendants in the guise of young fishes. Even the beautifulyet deadly Portuguese man-of-war had several attendants,marvelous in their mimicry, as each fish (Nomeus) was theexact tint of the blue tentacles of the fairylike animal. The rate at which fishes grow and the age which theyattain, are interesting subjects of study. Some grow veryrapidly, especially the herrings, which appear to be fullgrown in five, eight, or nine months; others requireseveral years to attain full growth. The temperature ofthe water and the food supply are important factorswhich must be considered. The rapid growers, such asthe herrings, which soon attain a certain size and then 58 THE SHARKS AND RAYS stop growing, are believed to be short lived. Thosewhich slowly and steadily grow, as the pike and carp,. Fig. 30.— The Pickerel. undoubtedly attain a ripe old age, passing the centurymark. Sir John Lubbock gives the age of carp as onehundred and fifty years. r~ THE SHARKS AND RAYS The sharks and rays differ very materially from fishesin general, in the fact that they have no bones, the so-called skeleton orframe being formedof cartilage, easilybent, twisted, or cutwith a knife. Not-withstanding this, thesharks (Fig. 31) areamong the fierce ma-rauders of the ocean,the tigers of the sea,preying upon allforms of life, not hesitating to attack man if a favorableopportunity is presented. The dogfishes are small sharks
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1906
