[Illustration: SEA-HORSES]

They have no teeth, but a long mouth like a pipe; so you can be sure
they eat only the smallest sea-creatures. To add to his odd look, the
Seahorse moves his eyes in a comic fashion. One eye may roll round and
look at you, while the other gazes forward.

As if this were not strange enough, he surprises us again. Mr. Sea-horse
turns himself into a living nursery. He carries the eggs about with him,
in a special pouch of skin! You will remember that the Pipe-fish also
carries the eggs in his pocket, as it were. So you will not be surprised
to hear that these two quaint fish belong to the same family.

We will leave the funny little Sea-horse, and look at a very different
fish--the Sunfish. This remarkable fish often reaches a good size; even
near our coast big ones are caught now and again, and in warmer seas,
where they are often killed for the sake of the oil they contain, big
fellows of half a ton are quite common.

This Sunfish has a peculiar shape. It looks as if it had once been an
immense fish of the usual fish shape, but someone cut off the head and
shoulders, and placed a short fin where the rest of the body had been.
Above and below there is a long pointed fin. The mouth is very small,
and has no real teeth; so the Sunfish lives on small prey, such as the
young of other fish, or small shell-fish.

Far away from land these strange Sunfish are met with, asleep near the
surface, with the back fin showing above water. They roll along lazily,
not unlike big cart-wheels. The top and bottom fins are for balancing
and guiding the body, which is moved forward by the fin which frills the
back part of this odd fish.

[Illustration: GLOBE FISH]

In the fishmonger's shop you may sometimes see that ugly monster of the
deep, the Angler-fish, or Fishing-frog. Now and again he finds his way
into the fishermen's nets; and is also caught on the lines, for he is so
greedy that he will snap at a hooked fish. Rather than let go of his
prey, he will be drawn to the surface. Then he is knocked on the head,
and thrown into the boat with the other fish.

Being slow and clumsy, the Angler-fish cannot chase his prey, so gets
his dinner by fraud. Nature has given him a fishing line and a bait! He
has long spines on his head, so beautifully joined to the bones of the
head that they can wave to and fro very easily. At the tip of the front
spine there is a loose, shining strip of skin--that is the bait. Now,