FIGHTING-FISH
\fˈa͡ɪtɪŋfˈɪʃ], \fˈaɪtɪŋfˈɪʃ], \f_ˈaɪ_t_ɪ_ŋ_f_ˈɪ_ʃ]\
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A small fish, a native of the south-east of Asia, remarkable for its pugnacious propensities. In Siam these fishes are kept in glass globes, as we keep gold-fish, for the purpose of fighting, and an extravagant amount of gambling takes place about the result of the fights, not only money, but children and liberty being staked. When the fish is quiet its colors are dull, but when it is irritated, as by the sight of another fish, or of its own reflection in a mirror, it glows with metallic splendor, the projecting gill-membrane waving like a black frill about the throat.
By Daniel Lyons
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