Part 21

The Torpedo has no spines which can wound, but it has a much more powerful weapon of defence. Like the Electrical Eel, this Fish has the power of producing violent electrical shocks.

The electrical effects produced on the fisherman who seizes one of these Fish, were noted from early times; but Redi, the Italian Naturalist of the seventeenth century, was the first who studied them scientifically. Having caught and landed one of them with every precaution, “I had scarcely touched and pressed it with my hand,” says this Naturalist, “than I experienced a tingling sensation, which extended to my arms and shoulders, and which was followed by a disagreeable trembling, with a painful and acute sensation in the elbow joint, which made me withdraw my arm immediately.”

Other Naturalists have described similar sensations, and careful study has been made of this Fish to discover the cause of this shock, and the hidden power possessed by the Fish of storing up this animal electricity. It still remains a mystery, however, in spite of extensive experimenting.

The body of the Torpedo or Cramp-fish is almost circular, and it is thicker than others of the Ray family. The skin is soft and smooth, and of a yellowish color marked with darker spots. The eyes are very small, and behind them are two star-like spout-holes; the mouth is small, and the long tail tapers to a point, finished with a sort of caudal fin. These curious Fishes are found in the English Channel and along the shores of the Mediterranean.

THE SHARK FAMILY.

The Sharks, like the Raias, have their mouth furnished with jaws, and for this reason they are classified in the same group of Cartilaginous Fishes, as distinct from the Lampreys and the Sturgeons. This family includes not only the Sharks, but the Dog-fishes, Hammerheads and the Saw-fish. All the species have a lengthened body, merging into a thick tail and a rough skin.

The Shark becomes the terror of the sea almost as soon as it is born. At first it eats the Cuttle-fish, Molluscs, etc., then the Flounders and Cod-fish. But the prey which has the greatest charm for him is Man. He will even attack a diver in the strong diver’s costume, and in the waters where these “Hyenas of the Seas,” (as the Sharks are sometimes called) are to be found, the divers find it necessary to make special preparations for fighting them.

When the diver is eagerly engaged with his work, he sees suddenly a great shadow fall on the bottom of the sea and he immediately recognizes with horror the spindle-shaped body of the Man-eating Shark. The head is flat; the fore-part of the snout is projected forward; the wide mouth, pushed far back, is supplied with sharp triangular teeth.

The bold robber has seen the diver and comes at him. If he loses his coolness, he will be the spoil of the greedy Shark. He draws his dagger, which he carries with him for such an event. Dexterously he avoids the animal and stabs him deep with the dagger. A great stream of blood stains the water. In his death struggles the mighty animal threshes the water with his great fins and seeks safety in flight. Then another Shark approaches, and again must the diver fight a life and death battle. He is successful in making this enemy also incapable of fighting; then completely exhausted, he gives the signal to be drawn up. But the diver is not always fortunate enough to overcome the horrible animals. He is sometimes terribly torn by the daring Man-eaters.

The back and sides of the Shark are of an ashy brown; beneath it is faded white. The head is flat, and terminates in a nose slightly rounded. Its terrible mouth is in the form of a semi-circle, and of enormous size; the contour of the upper jaw of a Shark of ten yards length being about two yards wide, and its throat being in proportion to this monstrous opening.

When the throat of the Fish is open we see beyond the lips (which are straight and of the consistency of leather) certain plates of teeth, which are triangular and white as ivory. If the Shark is an adult it has in the upper as in the lower jaw six rows of these murderous arms, an arsenal ready to tear and rend its victim. These teeth take different motions according to the will of the animal; and obedient to the muscles round their base, by means of which it can erect or retract its various rows of teeth, it can even erect a portion of any row, while the others remain at rest in their bed. Thus this far-seeing tyrant of the ocean knows how to measure the number and power of the arms necessary to destroy its prey. For the destruction of the weak and defenceless, one row of teeth suffices; for the more formidable adversary it has a whole arsenal at command.

The eyes of the Shark are small, and nearly round; its scent is very subtle; its fins are strong and rough. The tail is possessed of immense power, and is capable of breaking the limb of a robust Man by a single stroke.

He seeks eagerly for human flesh, and haunts the neighborhood where it hopes to find the precious morsel. He follows the ship in which his instinct tells him it is to be found, and makes extraordinary efforts to reach it. He has been known to leap into a boat in order to seize the frightened fishermen; he throws himself upon the ship, cleaving the waves at full speed to snap up some unhappy sailor who has shown himself beyond the bulwarks.

He follows the course of the slaver, watching for the horrors of the middle passage, ready to engulf the Negroes’ corpses as they are thrown into the sea. Commerson relates a significant fact bearing on the subject. The corpse of a Negro had been suspended from a yard-arm twenty feet above the level of the sea. A Shark was seen to make many efforts to reach the body, and it finally succeeded in securing it, member by member, undisturbed by the cries of the horror-stricken crew. In order that an animal so large and heavy should be able to throw itself to this height, the muscles of the tail and posterior parts of the body must have an astonishing power.

The mouth of the Shark being placed in the lower part of the head, it becomes necessary to turn itself round in the water before it can seize the object which is placed above him. He meets with men bold enough to profit by this conformation, and chase this formidable and ferocious creature. On the African coast the Negroes attack the Shark in his own element, swimming towards him, and seizing the moment when he turns himself to rip him up with a sharp knife. This act of courage and audacity cannot, however, be said to be Shark-fishing.

The fishing operation is conducted as follows: Choosing a dark night, a hook is prepared by burying it in a piece of lard and attaching it to a long and solid wire chain. The Shark looks askance at this prey, feels it, then leaves it; he is tempted by withdrawing the bait, when he follows and swallows it gluttonously. He now tries to sink into the water, but, checked by the chain, he struggles and fights. By-and-by he gets exhausted, and the chain is drawn up in such a manner as to raise the head out of the water. Another cord is now thrown out with a running knot or loop, in which the body of the Shark is caught near the tail. Thus bound, the captured Shark is soon lifted on deck, where he is put to death with great precaution as there is still great danger from his bites and the fierce blows of his tail.

THE DOG-FISH.

The Dog-fish, which sometimes attains the length of between three and four feet, is exceedingly voracious. It feeds upon other fish, of which it destroys great quantities; it does not hesitate to attack the fishermen, and especially bathers in the sea. It places itself in ambush, like the Raias, in order to attack its prey.

The flesh of the Dog-fish is hard, smells of musk, and is rarely eaten; but the skin becomes an article of commerce, and is known as shagrin, being, like the skin of the Shark, used for making spectacle-cases and for other ornamental purposes, for which its green color and high polish recommend it.

There is a smaller species than the preceding, which haunts rocky shores, where it lies in wait for its prey. Its spots are larger and more scattered, and its ventral fins are nearly square. It feeds on Molluscs, Crustaceans, and small Fishes.

THE HAMMERHEAD.

The Hammerhead is chiefly distinguished by the singular form of its head, which is flattened horizontally, and the sides prolonged, giving it the appearance of the head of a hammer. The eyes of this Fish are placed at the extremity of these hammer points of the head; they are grey, projecting, and the iris is gold-colored. When the animal is irritated, the colors of the iris become like flame, to the horror of the fishermen who behold them.

Beneath the head and near to the junction of the trunk is the mouth, which is semi-circular, and furnished on each jaw with three or four rows of large teeth pointed and barbed on two sides.

The most common species in our seas is long and slender in the body, which is grey, and the head is black. It usually attains the length of eleven or twelve feet, weighing occasionally nearly five hundred pounds. Its boldness and voracity, and craving for blood, are more remarkable than its size. If the Hammerhead has not the strength of the Shark, it surpasses it in fury; few Fishes are better known to sailors in consequence of its striking form. Its voracity often brings it round ships and near the coast. Its visits impress themselves on the memory of the sailor, and he loves to relate his hair-breadth escape from the meeting.

THE SAW-FISH.

The Saw-fish is distinguished from all other known Fishes by the formidable arm which it carries in its head. This weapon is a prolongation of the nose, which, in place of being rounded off or reduced to a point, forms a long, straight, strong, sword-like termination, flat on both sides, and on the two edges furnished with numerous strong teeth, giving the appearance of a double saw, or one with teeth on both edges.

Thus armed, the Saw-fish—the length of which is from twelve to fifteen feet—fearlessly attacks the fiercest inhabitants of the ocean. With this threatening weapon, sometimes two yards in length, it dares to try its strength with the Whale, and in a combat between the two, the Saw-fish is usually victorious.

The Saw-fish is sometimes called the Sword-fish because of the sword-shape of its long saw, but it should be remembered that these Fishes are entirely distinct, for the Saw-fish belongs to the class of Cartilaginous Fishes, while the real Sword-fish, whose sharp sword is strong and smooth—without the saw-like teeth—is found among the Osseous or bony Fishes in the Mackerel family.

THE STURGEON FAMILY.

The principal Fish belonging to this family are the different kinds of Sturgeon and the strange Chimaera, concerning which so many weird tales have been told.

Four species of Sturgeon are commonly known. The Caviare Sturgeon, the Huso or Isinglass Fish, the Great Sturgeon and the Common Sturgeon. The Caviare Sturgeon is the best known in this country, as well as in European waters, and it is the most eagerly sought after by fishermen because it is from the roe of this Fish that the noted delicacy called caviare is made, which until recent years was confined principally to Russia, but which is now well known and consumed on both continents.

What is known as the Isinglass Fish, besides supplying us with roe similar to that of the Caviare Sturgeon, also furnishes a valuable commodity known as isinglass.

The Common Sturgeon abounds in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. It is usually about two yards to seven feet long, but has been known to attain the length of ten or twelve feet.

It is remarkable for the number and form of the osseous plates or scales, which cover the body like so many bucklers. It has no less than twelve to fifteen of these rough bony plates, relieved by projections, which are pointed in the young, and soften down with age. On each side is a row of thirty to thirty-five of these triangular plates, separated from each other by considerable intervals. The head is broad at the base, gradually contracting towards the point, and terminating in a conical nose. The mouth is large and considerably behind the extremity of the nose, and its jaws, in place of teeth, are furnished with cartilages. Between the mouth and the nose are four slender and very elastic barbs, or wattles, like so many little worms. It is claimed that these wattles attract small Fishes to the jaws of the animal, while it conceals itself among the roots of aquatic plants.

In the sea the Sturgeon feeds on Herrings, Mackerel, Cod-fish and other Fishes of moderate size. In the rivers it attacks the Salmon which ascend them about the same time. Mingling with them, however, it seems a giant. Its flesh is delicate, and in countries where they are caught in quantities it is dried and preserved.

The Great Sturgeon, which sometimes exceeds a thousand pounds, is only found in the rivers which flow into the Caspian and Black seas. The Volga, the Don, and the Danube produce the largest species.

THE CHIMERA.

This curious member of the Sturgeon family resembles the Sturgeon only in the formation of the gills. Otherwise it seems distinct not only from the rest of the family with free gills, but from all other Fishes. Many strange tales have been told of it in the past; and the Arctic Chimera is the monster of mythological antiquity, which used to be represented with the body of a Goat, the head of a Lion, the tail of a Dragon, and a gaping throat that vomited flames. At a later period it was described simply as a monstrous Fish with a Lion’s head. But now that it has become better known, we are inclined to ridicule these old-time tales that surrounded this Fish with a fascinating mystery.

But even now the strange form of the Chimera, the manner in which it moves, the different parts of its hideous mouth and nose, its mode of showing its teeth, its ape-like contortions and grimaces, its long tail which acts with such rapidity—reminding one of a Reptile—all work on the imagination with a horrible fascination, and we can understand how it influenced the superstitious fishermen of the past who noticed its queer antics in the sea, and were too cautious to give it close study.

This strange Fish is usually from five to six feet in length, of a silver color, spotted with brown. The largest variety, known as the Arctic, or the Monster Chimera, inhabits the North Sea, and another species, which closely resembles it, but is somewhat smaller, known as the Antarctic Chimera, is found in the southern hemisphere.

THE OSSEOUS OR BONY FISHES.

Some Naturalists claim that these are the only inhabitants of the water that should be called Fishes—that the Cetacea or the Whale family are simply huge beasts that have taken up their abode in the ocean, and that the cartilagenous Fishes form an amphibious band by themselves.

Others have classed the whole of these three great groups under the name of Fishes. But modern Scientists have settled upon the classification which has been carried out in this little Natural History—the Cetacea are placed among the Mammals and kept entirely distinct from the Fishes (none of which feed and care for their young in the same manner as the Mammals); and the great tribe of Fishes are now divided into two groups of cartilaginous and osseous Fishes, with their numerous sub-divisions into families and species.

We have studied the curious families of the cartilaginous Fishes and now we find more familiar varieties of our well-known Fishes among the families of bony Fishes, although even in this division some very rare and wonderful specimens are found.

The history of any one family of the bony Fishes very closely resembles all the rest—they breathe air and water through the gills. They live by devouring such Fish and the animal life of the great waters as their mouth is capable of admitting. They propagate not by bringing forth their young alive, like the Mammals and a few of the cartilaginous Fishes, nor by distinct eggs, like the remainder of the latter class, but by spawn, as their roe is called, which is made up of hundreds, and in some instances hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs.

The bones of these Fishes also makes them distinct from all others. They have the appearance of being solid, but when examined more closely they are found to be hollow and filled with a substance less oily than marrow. These bones are very numerous and pointed and to them the muscles are fixed which move the different parts of the body.

THE FAMILY OF GLOBE FISH AND COFFERS.

This forms the first group of bony Fishes, which are distinguished by having the jaw attached to the cranium. In the Globe Fish the jaws have no apparent teeth, but they are furnished with a kind of beak in ivory, which represents them. In the group to which the Coffer Fish belong the nose terminates in a little mouth armed with true teeth. The first group includes the Globe-fish and the Diodons; in the second group we find the Coffers or Ostracions and the File-fish or Balistes.

The skin of the Globe-fish bristles with small slightly projecting spines, which repel their enemies, and even wound the hand that would grasp them. They enjoy, besides, a strange power; they can inflate the lower part of their body, and give it an extension so great that it becomes like an inflated ball, in which the real shape of the Fish is lost. This result is obtained by the introduction of an immense quantity of air into the stomach when it wishes to ascend to the surface. The species of Globe-fish are numerous. Some of them are common in the Nile, where they are frequently left ashore during the annual inundations.

There is a smooth Globe-fish known as the Moon-fish. Its compressed, spineless body, being very round, has been compared to a disk, and more poetically to the moon, to the great circular surface of which the dazzling silvery white disk bears some resemblance. But it is especially during the night that it justifies the name given to it. Then it shines brightly from its own phosphorescent light, at a little distance beneath the surface.

On very dark nights, this Globe-fish is sometimes seen swimming in the soft light which emanates from its body, the rays rendered undulating by the rippling of the water which it traverses, so as to resemble the trembling light of the moon half-veiled in misty vapors. When many of these Fishes rove about together, mingling their silvery trains, the scene suggests the idea of dancing stars. The Moon-fish is common in the Mediterranean, and sometimes reaches the markets of Europe. It is about thirty inches in length.

THE DIODONS.

The curious Diodons differ from the Globe-fish in the form of their bony jaws, each forming only one piece. They differ also in their spines, which are much larger than those of the Globe-fish. These Fishes may be said to be the Hedgehogs and Porcupines of the sea. Like the Globe-fish, they can erect their spines and inflate their bodies.

THE COFFERS.

The Coffers or Ostracions, are without scales, but are covered with regular bony compartments which are so jointed to one another that the body seems to be enclosed in a kind of box or long coffer, which only reveals the fins and a portion of the tail. The body is usually of a triangular shape, although some species are quadrangular; but no matter what the form, this queer bony box gives the Fish an odd appearance, making it distinct from all others.

These singular Fishes are found in the Indian Ocean and in the American seas. They are of moderate size, and of little value as food for mankind.

THE FILE-FISH.

These have a compressed body, and the jaws are furnished with eight teeth arranged in a single row on each jaw. The mouth is small and the body is enveloped in very hard scales. The File-fish or Balistes are inhabitants of tropical seas, with one exception. They are brilliantly colored, and as they herd together in great numbers they form curious combinations of rare coloring in the equatorial seas.

THE PIPE-FISH AND SEA-HORSES.

The second division of the bony Fishes is quite small, including only the Pipe-fish and the Sea-horses. These are distinguished by having the gills divided into small round tufts and arranged in pairs—a structure that is peculiar and different from that of any other Fishes. These gills are enclosed under a large cover, which leaves only a small hole for the escape of water which has served the purposes of respiration.

The Pipe-fishes belonging to this family possess a very strange organic peculiarity. Their bodies are long, slender, and slightly tapering, covered with plates set lengthwise; and the skin in swelling forms a pouch near the tail into which the eggs glide to be hatched, and which is afterwards a shelter for the young.

The Trumpet Pipe-fish has a small head and a long cylinder-shaped nose, slightly raised at the end, and terminating in a very small mouth without teeth. It is generally found in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

There is still another Pipe-fish—the Fistularia—not often classed with this family, but found among the spiny-finned Fishes, with an extremely long nose in front of the head; this forms a long tube, in fact, at the end of which is the mouth. This species is common at the Antilles. It reaches a length of about three feet. It feeds upon crustaceans and small Fishes, which it drags from the interstices of the rocks and stones by means of its long pipe.

THE SEA-HORSE.

The queer little Sea-horses which are often found dried among a collection of sea-shells and ocean relics, are only a few inches in length. Their head bears some resemblance to that of a Horse, while the tail resembles the rings of a Caterpillar, and the body is covered with triangular scales. They keep in a vertical position when they swim, and the tail seems on the alert, to seize whatever it meets in the water, clasping the stems of rushes, etc. Once fixed by the tail, the queer little animal seems to watch all the surrounding objects, and darts quickly on any prey presenting itself. They live on Worms and Fish eggs and substances found at the bottom of the sea.

THE FAMILY OF SOFT-FINNED FISHES.

The principal character of the Fishes of this large family (which forms the third group of bony Fishes) is that the rays of the fins are soft, with very few exceptions. They inhabit both the sea and fresh water, and this group is found to include Fishes of the most importance as human food, such as the Herring, the Cod, Salmon, Carp, Pike, and many others.

This family is usually divided into three groups: The Eels—which have already been described with the Lampreys—the various flat Fishes, like the Flounders, Turbot, Plaice, Sole, Halibut, etc., and third, the Fishes already mentioned as the favorites for food, with curious specimens of Flying-fish, etc.

SOME STRANGE SPECIMENS.