A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)

=Spines of the Catfishes.=--The catfishes or horned pouts (_Siluridæ_) have a strong spine in the pectoral fin, one or both edges of this being jagged or serrated. This spine fi...

Science consists of human experience, tested and placed in order. The science of ichthyology represents our knowledge of fishes, derived from varied experiences of man, tested b...

=Order Notidani.=--We may recognize as a distinct order, a primitive group of recent sharks, a group of forms finding its natural place somewhere between the _Cladoselachidæ_ an...

=The Isthmus of Suez.=--In the study of the effect of the Isthmus of Suez on the distribution of fishes we may first consider the alleged resemblance between the fauna of the Me...

=Origin of the Fins of Fishes.=--One of the most interesting problems in vertebrate morphology, and one of the most important from its wide-reaching relations, is that of the de...

=The Habits of Fishes.=--The habits of fishes can hardly be summarized in any simple mode of classification. In the usual course of fish-life the egg is laid in the early spring...

=The Lampreys.=--Passing upward from the lancelets and setting aside the descending series of Tunicates, we have a long step indeed to the next class of fish-like vertebrates. D...

=Taxonomy.=--Classification, as Dr. Elliott Coues has well said,[147] is a natural function of "the mind which always strives to make orderly disposition of its knowledge and so...

=How Fishes Breathe.=--The fish breathes the air which is dissolved in water. It cannot use the oxygen which is a component part of water, nor can it, as a rule, make use of atm...

=The Lungfishes.=--The group of Dipneusti, or lung-fishes, is characterized by the presence of paired fins consisting of a jointed axis with or without rays. The skull is autost...

=The Process of Natural Selection.=--We can say, in general, that in all waters not absolutely uninhabitable there are fishes. The processes of natural selection have given to e...

=Zoogeography.=--Under the head of distribution we consider the facts of the actual location of species of organisms on the surface of the earth and the laws by which their loca...

=Specialization of the Skeleton.=--In the lowest form of fish-like vertebrates (_Branchiostoma_), the skeleton consists merely of a cartilaginous rod or notochord extending thro...

=The Arthrodires.=--Another large group of extinct fishes mailed and helmeted is included under the general name of _Arthrodira_[157] (~arthros~, joint; ~deira~, neck), or _Arth...

=The Geological Distribution of Fishes.=--The oldest unquestioned remains of fishes have been very recently made known by Mr. Charles D. Walcott, from rocks of the Trenton perio...

=Contagious Diseases.=--As compared with other animals the fishes of the sea are subject to but few specific diseases. Those in fresh waters, being more isolated, are more frequ...

=Dispersion of Fishes.=--The methods of dispersion of fishes may be considered apart from the broader topic of distribution or the final results of such dispersion. In this disc...

=Segmentation of the Egg.=--The egg of the fish develops only after fertilization (amphimixis). This process is the union of its nuclear substance with that of the sperm-cell fr...

=What is a Fish?=--A fish is a back-boned animal which lives in the water and cannot ever live very long anywhere else. Its ancestors have always dwelt in water, and most likely...

=The Sharks.=--The gap between the lancelets and the lampreys is a very wide one. Assuming the primitive nature of both groups, this gap must represent the period necessary for...

=Structure of Tunicates.=--One of the most singular groups of animals is that known as Ascidians, or Tunicates. It is one of the most clearly marked yet most heterogeneous of al...

=The Flesh of Fishes.=--Among all races of men, fishes are freely eaten as food, either raw, as preferred by the Japanese and Hawaiians, or else as cooked, salted, dried, or oth...

=Class Teleostomi.=--We may unite the remaining groups of fishes into a single class, for which the name _Teleostomi_ (~teleos~, true; ~stoma~, mouth), proposed by Bonaparte in...

=Ostracophores.=--Among the earliest vertebrates actually recognized as fossils belongs the group known as _Ostracophori_ (~ostrakos~, a box; ~phoreô~, to bear). These are most...

=Form of Body.=--With a glance at the fish as a living organism and some knowledge of those structures which are to be readily seen without dissection, we are prepared to examin...

=The Organs of Smell.=--The sense-organs of the fish correspond in general to those of the higher vertebrates. The sense of taste is, however, feeble or wanting, and that of hea...

=Pigmentation.=--The colors of fishes are in general produced by oil sacs or pigment cells beneath the epidermis or in some cases beneath the scales. Certain metallic shades, si...

=How to Secure Fishes.=--In collecting fishes three things are vitally necessary--a keen eye, some skill in adapting means to ends, and some willingness to take pains in the pre...

=The Chimæras.=--Very early in geological times, certainly as early as the middle Silurian, the type of _Chimæras_ diverged from that of the sharks. Hasse derives them directly...

=The Chordate Animals.=--Referring to our metaphor of the tree with its twigs as used in the chapter on classification we find the fishes with the higher vertebrates as parts of...

=The Blue-green Sunfish.=--The organs found in the abdominal cavity of the fish may be readily traced in a rapid dissection. Any of the bony fishes may be chosen, but for our pu...

=The nerves of the Fish.=--The nervous system in the fish, as in the higher vertebrates, consists of brain and spinal cord with sensory, or afferent, and motor, or efferent, ner...

=The Germ-cells.=--In most fishes the germ-cells are produced in large sacs, ovaries or testes, arranged symmetrically one on either side of the posterior part of the abdominal...

The mermaid, half woman and half fish, has been one of the most tenacious among these, and the manufacture of their dried bodies from the head, shoulders, and ribs of a monkey s...

=The Lancelet.=--The lancelet is a vertebrate reduced to its very lowest terms. The essential organs of vertebrate life are there, but each one in its simplest form unspecialize...

The Isthmus of Suez.--The Fish Fauna of Japan.--Fresh-water Faunas of Japan.--Faunal Areas of Marine Fishes of Japan.--Resemblance of Japanese and Mediterranean Fish Faunas.--Si...

Order Notidani.--Family Hexanchidæ.--Family Chlamydoselachidæ.--Order Asterospondyli.--Suborder Cestraciontes.--Family Heterodontidæ.--Edestus and its Allies.--Onchus.--Family C...

Spines of the Catfishes.--Venomous Spines.--The Lancet of the Surgeon-fish.--Spines of the Sting-ray.--Protection through Poisonous Flesh of Fishes.--Electric Fishes.--Photophor...

Zoogeography.--General Laws of Distribution.--Species Absent through Barriers.--Species Absent through Failure to Maintain Foothold.--Species Changed through Natural Selection.-...

Specialization of the Skeleton.--Homologies of Bones of Fishes.--Parts of the Skeleton.--Names of Bones of Fishes.--Bones of the Cranium.--Bones of the Jaws.--The Suspensorium o...

Origin of the Fins of Fishes.--Origin of the Paired Fins.--Development of the Paired Fins in the Embryo.--Evidences of Palæontology.--Current Theories as to Origin of Paired Fin...

The Habits of Fishes.--Irritability of Animals.--Nerve-cells and Fibers.--The Brain or Sensorium.--Reflex Action.--Instinct.--Classification of Instincts.--Variability of Instin...

What is a Fish?--The Long-eared Sunfish.--Form of the Fish.--Face of the Fish.--How the Fish Breathes.--Teeth of the Fish.--How the Fish Sees.--Color of the Fish.--The Lateral L...

Post-embryonic Development.--General Laws of Development.--The Significance of Facts of Development.--The Development of the Bony Fishes.--The Larval Development of Fishes.--Pec...

The Lampreys.--Structure of the Lamprey.--Supposed Extinct Cyclostomes.--Conodontes.--Orders of Cyclostomes.--The Hyperotreta, or Hagfishes.--The Hyperoartia, or Lampreys.--Food...

The Arthrodires.--Occurrence of Arthrodires.--Arthrognathi.--Anarthrodira.--Stegothalami.-- Arthrodira.--Temnothoraci.--Arthrothoraci.--Relations of Arthrodires.--Suborder Cycli...

Barriers to Dispersion of Fresh-water Fishes: Local Barriers.--Favorable Waters Have Most Species.--Watersheds.--How Fishes Cross Watersheds.--The Suletind.--The Cassiquiare.--T...

The Geological Distribution of Fishes.--The Earliest Sharks.--Devonian Fishes.--Carboniferous Fishes.--Mesozoic Fishes.--Tertiary Fishes.--Factors of Extinction.--Fossilization...

The Dispersion of Fishes.--The Problem of Oatka Creek.--Generalizations as to Dispersion.--Questions Raised by Agassiz.--Conclusions of Cope.--Questions Raised by Cope.--Views o...

Taxonomy.--Defects in Taxonomy.--Analogy and Homology.--Coues on Classification.--Species as Twigs of a Genealogical Tree.--Nomenclature.--The Conception of Genus and Species.--...

Aristotle.--Rondelet.--Marcgraf.--Osbeck.--Artedi.--Linnæus.-- Forskål.--Risso.--Bloch.--Lacépède.--Cuvier.--Valenciennes.-- Agassiz.--Bonaparte.--Günther.--Boulenger.--Le Sueur...

Form of Body.--Measurement of the Fish.--The Scales or Exoskeleton.--Ctenoid and Cycloid Scales.--Placoid Scales.--Bony and Prickly Scales.--Lateral Line.--Function of the Later...

The Sharks.--Characters of Elasmobranchs.--Classification of Elasmobranchs.--Subclasses of Elasmobranchs.--The Selachii.--Hasse's Classification of Elasmobranchs.--Other Classif...

Contagious Diseases: Crustacean Parasites.--Myxosporidia or Parasitic Protozoa.--Parasitic Worms: Trematodes, Cestodes.--The Worm of the Yellowstone.--The Heart Lake Tape-worm.-...