DESCRIPTION OF THE SUBJECT OF THIS PRINT:

Coris vulgaris (shoal of 8 above). Coris julis (the two larger fishes in the shoal of C. vulgaris). Coris occur in the Mediterranean and belong to the wrasse; a family widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical region; The rainbow tints of this slender fish gleam through the golden brown branches of fucus when the sun penetrates the water of rocky coasts. Scorpaena scrofa. On account of their poisonous spines the little rock-perch are amongst the most dreaded of Mediterranean fishes. The strange markings change in accordance with their background and may so deceive the eye that it is practically impossible to discern them in the fissures of the rocks. Rhombus laevis. Flat fishes have exceptional powers of blending with their environment. The impressions received through the eye of the fish pass by way of the nervous system to hormone producin, glands and so influence the colour cells of the skin that the changes thus effected often result in astoundingly faithful imitations of their surroundings. Their peculiar habit of lying on their sides, and the fact that, in the course of development, one eye migrates from its normal position to the other side of the body, renders this group of fish of especial interest to biologists.