Note 1035 — Chapter XXXIX · FISH WITH AND WITHOUT SCALES—METHODS OF FISHING—VIVARIA

This statement of Tristram’s is controverted by Masterman, op. cit., p. 44, note 1, who writes, “This is impossible. They leave the shelter of their fathers’ mouths when about the size of a lentil, and apparently never return.” The male Pipe fish Syngnathus acus not only carries the eggs, but also the young fish in a pouch, in a manner similar to the kangaroo. The young, even after they have begun to swim about, return when alarmed to the parental cavity. There are only one or two instances of a female fish taking sole charge of the ova: of these is Aspreto batrachus, which by lying on the top of her eggs presses them in to her spongy body and carries them thus, till they are hatched.