. Fishes. Fishes. yo Adaptations of Fishes fishes attach themselves by a large sucking-disk on the top of the head, which is a modified spinous dorsal fin. They do not harm the shark, except possibly to retard its motion. If the shark is caught and drawn out of the water, these fishes often instantly let go and plunge into the sea, swimming away with great celerity. Sucking-disks of Clingfishes. — Other fishes have sucking- disks differently made, by which they cling to rocks. In the gobies the united ventrals have some adhesive power. The blind goby {TypJilogobius californiensis) is said to a
. Fishes. Fishes. yo Adaptations of Fishes fishes attach themselves by a large sucking-disk on the top of the head, which is a modified spinous dorsal fin. They do not harm the shark, except possibly to retard its motion. If the shark is caught and drawn out of the water, these fishes often instantly let go and plunge into the sea, swimming away with great celerity. Sucking-disks of Clingfishes. — Other fishes have sucking- disks differently made, by which they cling to rocks. In the gobies the united ventrals have some adhesive power. The blind goby {TypJilogobius californiensis) is said to adhere to rocks in dark holes by the ventral fins. In most gobies the adhesive power is slight. In the sea-snails {Liparidida;) and lumpfishes (Cydopteridco) the united ventral fins are modified into an. Fig. 53.—Clingfish, Caularchus mceandricus (Girard). Monterey, California. elaborate circular sucking-disk. In the clingfishes (Gobiesocidcc) the sucking-disk lies between the ventral fins and is made in part of modified folds of the naked skin. Some fishes creep over the bottom, exploring it with their sensitive barbels, as the gurnard, surmullet, and goatfish. The suckers {Catostomus) test the bottom with their thick, sensitive lips, either puckered or papillose, feeding by suction. Lampreys and Hagfishes.—The lampreys suck the blood of other fishes to which they fasten themselves by their disk-like mouth armed with rasping teeth. The hagfishes {Myxine, Eptairetus) alone among fishes are truly parasitic. These fishes, worm-like in form, have round mouths, armed with strong hooked teeth. They fasten them- selves at the throats of large fishes, work their way into the muscle without tearing the skin, and finally once inside devour all the muscles of the fish, leaving the skin unbroken and the viscera undisturbed. These fishes become hving hulks before. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability
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