SUCKING-FISHES Of the sucking-fishes, or remoras, there are about a dozen different kinds, distinguished by the odd sucker-like disk on the upper part of the head, by means of which they can attach themselves firmly to any object to which they wish to cling. They often fasten themselves in this manner to the hulls of ships, and also to the bodies of sharks and the shells of turtles, and so are carried for long distances without any exertion of their own. So firmly do these odd little fishes cling, that it is most difficult to remove them without injuring them, and the sharks and turtles have no means of forcing them to loose their hold. It is a very odd fact that the coloring of the sucking-fishes is just the opposite of that which we find in almost all other fishes. Instead of the upper surface being dark it is light, and instead of the lower surface being light it is dark. But when one of these fishes is clinging to a shark it is the lower surface which is seen, not the upper one; for _that_ is pressed against the body of the shark; and in order to prevent its enemies from seeing and eating it, the lower parts of its body are colored just like the skin of the shark. WEEVERS Strange little fishes are the weevers, two kinds of which are found on the coast of Europe. Both are highly poisonous, a prick from the spines of the upper fin or the gill-cover being almost as serious as the sting of a scorpion. The poison lies in a deep double groove on each spine, and as the fishes have a habit of burying themselves in the sand at the bottom of shallow water, with only just the sharp spines projecting, they are rather apt to be trodden upon by bathers. Accordingly, when a fisherman catches a weever-fish he always cuts off its back fin and the spines of its gill-covers at once; while in France and Spain he is compelled to do so by law. THE ANGLER The angler, or all-mouth, is the name of a hideous creature--about five feet long when fully grown--with a huge mouth, a great broad body shaped very much like that of a seal, two big round eyes which look almost straight up into the water above, and a row of long, slender spines on the back instead of the usual fins. The first of these spines has a broad, tufted, glittering tip, used for a most singular purpose.