is one of the strangest of all fishes in its habits. It shoots down flies and other small creatures from the bank by means of a series of well-aimed “bullets” of water, which it ejects in rapid succession.
THE FISHES (Pisces)
The fishes are the last class of the vertebrated animals, and have cold, red blood. The elongated body generally tapers off to the tail; the head and neck are large; the limbs are called fins, and are such as to make efficient paddles. They are usually one or more fins in the middle line of the back and one or two in a corresponding position beneath the tail (anal fins); while the tip of the tail is terminated by a caudal fin, the chief organ of swimming. All of the fins are supported by a skeleton of rays, either horny or spinous in character.
There are but two chambers to the heart, and the occurrence of a swim bladder, an organ for regulating or recognition of the depth of the water in which the fish is, is very frequent. Externally fish have a defensive armor of scales or bony plates embedded in the skin. They breathe throughout life by means of gills, which are delicate folds or filaments connected with openings (gill slits) in the sides of the throat. The fishes live in water, and reproduce their species by eggs.
There are several great groups of fishes, distinguished by the presence of a cartilage or bony skeleton, by having the gill slits free or under a gill cover, by characteristics of the skull, presence or absence of air bladder, and by peculiarities of the digestive tract and nervous system.
(1) The bony, or true fishes (Teleostei), which include all the most familiar freshwater and marine forms; (2) the Cartilaginous fishes (Elasmobranchii), including sharks, dog-fish, bays and skates; (3) the heavily-armored fishes (Ganoidei), like the sturgeons and bony pike; and (4) the double-breathers (Dipnoi), of rare occurrence.
THE BONY FISHES (Teleostei)
These have a bony skeleton, and a well-defined vertebra, or backbone; their bodies are mostly covered with scales.
Alewife (Alosa tyrannus), a fish of the same genus with the Shad, which, at the beginning of summer, appears in great numbers on the east coast of North America, and enters the rivers to spawn. It appears in Chesapeake Bay in March, on the coasts of New York and New England in April, and on those of the British provinces about May 1. It abounds in the bay of Fundy, but is more rare in the gulf of St. Lawrence; and the bay of Miramichi appears to be its northern limit. Its length is not more than twelve inches. The alewife is called spring herring in some places, and gaspereau by the French Canadians.
Bass (Labrax) is a member of the perch family. The shape is salmon-like. The color is without the zebra-like bars of the perch, and shades off from dusky blue above to silvery white beneath.