But  these  must  not  be  fastidious  in  their  art,  nor  scorn  such

tackle  as  will  carry  the  most  successful  bait,  which  is  said  to

be  half  a  pound  of  raw  mutton.     A  seafaring  relative  of  this

great  perch,  Oligorus  gigas — the  a  Hapuku  "  of  the  Maoris —

which  frequents  the  coast  and  reaches  of  New  Zealand,  has  been

taken  weighing  as  much  as  three  or  four  hundredweight.
One  of  the  coral  fishes,  so  called  because  they  haunt  the
coral  reefs  of  tropical  seas,  is  a  highly-developed  perch  {Apogon
frenatus].  It  is  brilliantly  coloured,  and  we  may  trace  in  its

*  Placed  by  American  naturalists  in  a  separate  genus,  Micropterus.
46  BRITISH  FRESH-WATER  FISHES

contour  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  type.  The  same
characteristics  may  be  seen  in  the  sea-perches  of  the  Indian
Pacific,  such  as  Diagramma  orientale.  These  fish  sometimes
reach  a  length  of  three  or  four  feet.  The  features  of  the
family  are  greatly  exaggerated  in  another  sea-perch  of  the.
Indian  Ocean,  Gerranus  altivelis.  People  bathing  at  Aden
and  the  Seychelles  have  been  known  to  be  attacked  by  a
gigantic  perch — a  species  of  Serranus  not  accurately  identified —
and  to  have  died  of  the  injuries  inflicted  on  them.
