The Animal World, A Book of Natural History Part 47

WEEVERS

Strange little fishes are the weevers, two kinds of which are found on the coast of Europe.

Both are highly poisonous, a p.r.i.c.k 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.

It is a creature of prey, feeding entirely upon other fishes; and it has a most enormous appet.i.te, which is hardly ever satisfied. But, at the same time, it is so slow in its movements that if it were to try to chase its victims it would never get anything to eat. It seems to know perfectly well, however, that fishes are very inquisitive creatures, and that they are always greatly attracted by any object that glitters. So when it feels hungry it lies down at the bottom of the sea, stirs the mud gently up with its side fins, so as to conceal itself from view, and dangles the glittering spine up and down in front of its open mouth.

Before very long some pa.s.sing fish is sure to come swimming up to see what this strange object can possibly be; and then the angler just gives one snap with its great jaws, and that fish is seen no more.

Just to show you how successful it is in its fishing, we may tell you that from the body of a single angler no less than seventy-five herrings have been taken, while another had swallowed twenty-five flounders and a John-dory!

There is another kind of angler which lives down at the bottom of the deep sea, where it is always perfectly dark. There, of course, a glittering spine would be useless, for the other fishes would not be able to see it. So this angler has a spine which shines at the tip like a firefly, so that it can be seen from a considerable distance as the fish dangles it up and down!

GURNARDS

These, too, are remarkable fishes, having square heads, which look ever so much too big for their bodies, and the first three rays of their pectoral or breast fins made like fingers. These breast-fins are used like fingers, too, for they serve as organs of touch, while the fish also walks with them along the sand at the bottom of the sea.

At least forty different kinds of gurnards have been discovered, but nearly all dwell along foreign coasts. The handsomest of these, perhaps, is the red gurnard, which grows to a length of twelve or fourteen inches, and is bright red above and silvery white below.

FLYING FISHES

Though objects of never-ending interest to every one who journeys through the warmer seas, flying fishes do not really fly. They merely skim for long distances through the air, just as the flying squirrel and the flying dragon do; but instead of having a broad parachute-like membrane to buoy them up, they are supported in the air by the pectoral or breast fins, which are very large. These fins do not beat the air, like the wings of a bird. They merely support the body. And the power of the so-called flight is due to a stroke of the tail just as the fish leaves the water.

The reason why these fishes take their long leaps through the air appears to be that they are much persecuted by other fishes, bigger and stronger than themselves, and that they know quite well that they will be overtaken if they remain in the water. They do not usually rise to a height of more than a few feet above the surface, and the greatest distance to which they can travel without falling back into the water seems to be about two hundred yards. Whether they can alter the direction of their course while they are in the air is uncertain. Some observers say that they can, while others declare that they cannot. But it is possible that they may sometimes do so by just touching the crest of a wave with their tails.

Flying fishes are found in all the warmer parts of the sea, and are very common in the Mediterranean and the West Indies.

THE HERRING

Like the mackerel, the herring is one of those fishes which live in vast shoals and are of great value as a cheap and nutritious food. These shoals consist of millions upon millions of fishes, and when they are swimming near the surface of the sea their presence can generally be detected by the numbers of sea-birds which follow them and devour them in countless thousands. Whales, too, often follow the shoal for days together, and sharks and many other big fishes do the same. Yet nothing seems to lessen their numbers.

These shoals generally appear in the same parts of the sea, year after year, at the same season. But sometimes the herring will desert their favorite haunts without any apparent cause. During spring and early summer they remain in deep water; but in June and July they come in nearer the coast in order to sp.a.w.n.

GOBIES

There are still several very curious and interesting fishes about which we should like to tell you; and among these are the gobies. Many different kinds of these odd little creatures are found in different parts of the world other than North America; but perhaps the best known of all is the black goby, which is very common off British coasts. You can often catch it by fishing with a small net in the pools which are left among the rocks as the tide goes out. And if you look into these pools from above, you may often see it clinging to the rocks round the margin. It does this by means of the fins on the lower part of its body, which are made in such a manner that when they are placed side by side together they form a kind of sucker. And if you keep the fish in an aquarium, it has an odd way of suddenly darting at the side of the tank, clinging to it with its fins, and staring at you through the gla.s.s.

Some of the gobies make nests in which to bring up their little ones, just as the sticklebacks do. One of them, the spotted goby, which is found rather commonly in the lower reaches of the Thames, nearly always takes one of the sh.e.l.ls of a c.o.c.kle for this purpose. First it turns the sh.e.l.l upside down; then it scoops out the sand from beneath it, and smears the surface of the hollow with slime from its own body; and then it piles loose sand over the sh.e.l.l, so as to keep it in position.

Lastly, it makes a little tunnel by which to enter the nest from outside. This work is always performed by the male. When the nest is quite finished the female comes and lays her eggs in it, after which the male keeps guard over them until they hatch, about eight or nine days later.

MUD-SKIPPERS

More curious still are these fishes, which are found on the coasts of the tropical seas, and often make their way for some little distance up the estuaries of rivers. They have singular eyes, which are set on the upper surface of the head, and can be poked out to some little distance and drawn back again in the oddest way. And besides that, these eyes have eyelids. Then the lower fins are made just like those of the gobies, but with an even greater power of clinging, so that the fish can climb by means of them. Often these queer little creatures leave the sea altogether and skip about on the muddy sh.o.r.e, or even climb up the trunks of the trees which overhang the water. Sometimes they will rest for quite a long time on the spreading roots, snapping at the flies and other small insects which come within reach. They do not look like fishes at all as they do so. They look much more like rather big tadpoles. And if they are suddenly startled they go hopping and skipping back into the water, not diving at once, but leaping along over the surface, very much as a flat stone does when thrown sideways from the hand.

Some of these fishes were kept for some time at the London Zoo, and when they were out of the water they had an odd way of lying at full length and raising their heads and the front part of their bodies by means of their lower fins, so that they reminded one very much of a man with his elbows resting upon the table.

PIPE-FISHES

The pipe-fish has its mouth drawn out into a very long snout, so that it forms a kind of tube; the body is sixteen or eighteen inches long, yet scarcely stouter than an ordinary drawing-pencil; and the only fin, besides a small one on the back, is a tiny one at the very tip of the tail. Besides this, the whole head and body are covered with bony plates, which form a kind of coat of mail. And the fish is even odder in habits than in appearance, for when the eggs are laid they are put into a pouch in the lower part of the body of the male, and are kept there until they hatch! It is even said that after the little ones are hatched and are able to swim about in the water, they will return into the pouch of the parent in moments of danger, just as young kangaroos will into that of their mother. But this does not seem to have been proved.

Pipe-fishes are not uncommon on our coasts, and you may often find them in the pools among the rocks when the tide is out. They swim half erect in the water, and if you watch them carefully you may see them poking their long snout-like mouths in among the seaweeds in search of food, standing on their heads among the eel-gra.s.s, in which position they are hard to see, or blowing furrows in the sand at the bottom of the pool in order to turn out any small creatures which may be lying hidden in it.

THE SEA-HORSE

Closely related to the pipe-fish is the sea-horse, which reminds one of the knight in a set of chessmen. It has a long and slender tail, which is prehensile, like that of a spider-monkey; and by means of this organ the fish anchors itself firmly down to the stems of seaweeds, or to any small object which may be floating on the surface of the water.

The eyes of this fish can be moved independently of each other, like those of a chameleon; and if you keep one of these creatures in a bowl of sea-water and watch it for a few minutes, you will find it hard to believe that it is not purposely "making faces" at you!

The male sea-horse, like the male pipe-fish, has a pouch underneath his body, in which the eggs are placed as soon as they are laid, and are kept until they hatch.

The sea-horse swims by means of a single fin on its back, which acts on the water very much like the screw of a steamboat. Just at the back of its head are two more fins, and when these are thrown forward they look like the ears of a horse, increasing the queer resemblance of its long head to that of a pony.

Sea-horses are found in most of the warmer seas, and in summer float north with the Gulf Stream, so that they are frequently seen near New England.

CONGERS

Just as there are eels which live in the fresh water, so there are eels which live in the sea. These are known as congers, and very often they grow to a great size. A conger eight feet long is by no means uncommon; and a fish of this length will weigh at least one hundred pounds.

Congers generally live in rather shallow water off a rocky coast, where there are plenty of nooks and crevices in which they can hide during the daytime. It is rather curious to find that those which live in muddy places are nearly always dark brown or black in color, while those which lie upon sand are light-colored, and sometimes almost white.

These eels are generally caught by means of long lines, which are set at intervals with short "snoods" just like those which are used in catching cod. The hooks are generally baited with pilchards, or else with pieces of the long arms of cuttles. When the congers are lifted on board the scene is usually an exciting one, for they are very powerful and active, and go twisting and writhing about in the most extraordinary manner, slapping vigorously on all sides with their long tails. These tails, too, to some extent, are prehensile, and sometimes the fishes will seize the gunwale of the boat, and then, with a sudden effort, pull themselves over the side and drop back into the water. As soon as they are lifted on board, the fishermen always try to stun them by a heavy blow on the lower side of the body, after which, of course, they can be easily killed.

Congers feed, as a rule, upon mollusks, which we wrongly call sh.e.l.l-fish, devouring them sh.e.l.ls and all. They will also eat small fishes, however, and sometimes they are cannibals; for inside the body of one of these fishes a young conger was found that was three feet in length!

AMPHIOXUS, OR LANCELET

In this we see a creature so curiously formed that a good many naturalists have doubted whether it ought to be ranked among the fishes at all. For in appearance it is much more like a slug; and it has no skull, and no brain, and no bones, and no eyes, and no gills, and no heart! It has a fin running along its back, however, and although it has no spine, it possesses a spinal cord. So it is considered as the very lowest of all the fishes, and as a kind of link between the animals with bones and those without them.

This strange little creature is about two inches and a half long when fully grown, and is so transparent that one can almost see through its body. It is very active, and can wriggle and twist about in the water, or on the mud, with considerable speed. It spends most of its life concealed under large stones, or lying almost buried in the muddy sand at the bottom of the sea. And it seems to feed upon those minute atoms of decaying animal and vegetable matter which are always floating about in countless millions in the waters of the sea.