St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-06-04


es in length, whose backs are striped in
red and green, and whose blue fins are
spotted with black.
In No. 6 are Holsters and huge crabs.
l used TO think the lobster a slow and
stupid fish, and try to imagine what he
could do with so many legs and claws
But find that he climbs rocks like a
spider, is, indeed, almost as active as
that Woodworking fy-catcher, and that
those toothed claws crunch shell-fish
with marvellous ease. With these
claws they assail each other and defend
themselves from enemies. The tyrant
of this tank is a veteran who has lost one
claw. Everything else in it seems to fear
him. One curious thing about these
fish is that they walk best claws fore
most, but always swim the other way
and use the claws for steering. The
crabs walk and swim forwards, back
wards and sideways equally well, and
they have each two hands and eight
feet. We find one securing his shell.
He is as busy as chicken Oiling itself
for a storm, and as carefully rubs each
horny swelling as does mother the
face of her child. Hereafter, instead of
the phrase "clean as a new penny" we
shall say clean as crab.
Nos. and and 9 have species of
corals called Anthea and AsteriOides.
They live only on limestone rocks,
hence their home is paved with stalag-
mites and shaded with stalactites. Some
of these fish look like white daisies
grated on cabbage stumps, others are
quite unlike anything else 1 ever saw.
If you visit New York City, you will
find some very like them in the Aqua
rum in Central Park. Tank No. ii is
inhabited by COngers, a mouse-colered,
leathery animal about as long
and wide as an eel, but as thin as
case-knife. He swims with the motion
of a crawling snake, but likes to hide
his spear-like tail under stones, or
curl himself into shell or old jar, and
let only his head be visible. Some of
the fish in this tank are spotted like
leopards, and are called Murana. The
west tank contains torpedo-fsh. These
would give us electric shocks if we
could touch them
No. 10 is full of kind of fish called |
the octopus or eight-footed fish. The
body is much like that of a frog, only
several times as large. On one end of
it are two very intelligent eyes, and
underneath are the eight legs branching
out in every direction. Each leg or
foot is eight to twelve inches long, and
has beneath a hundred sucker toes with
which it clings to glass or any other
smooth object. The octopus feeds on
crabs, and while we are watching them,
the keeper let's down from the surface |
of the water crab by string. The
octopus swims for it, but the keeper
Jerks it away and for a minute keeps
the hungry fish. At last tn c
latter catches the crab, enfoldS it with |
his mass of legs so tightly that the
keeper breaks the string in pulling on
it, and then tucks it into his stomach
mouth, which resembles a work bag |
drawn close with Il string. A little fur
Their on are Ascidia, transparent fishes, |
six inches long and half an inch or more
in diameter. They look like tubing
made of milky glass. Then there are
woody crabs that seem to have broken
out with tumOrs, and anemOne crabs |
that have each on the back two or three
stumps surrounded with fringe of
waving threads.
No Is has sepie that blind their prey
by squirting an inky fluid upon it. But
the most wonderful of all are the corals. |
Not all varieties thrive in so close quar-
tiers. Many require deeper water. Yet
here are enough to show what remark
able forms of life and beauty are be-
meath the surface of the ocean. They
look ike stony ferns, or ribbons, or
perforated paper, like candy-tuft or
feathers, or leatiess shrubs, but they are
really animals. They grow on their
skeletons as bases. Break off a piece
and if it has only mouth and can at
tach itself to a bit of limestone, it starts
a new and independent life. The CO.
rails are of many colors, but most here
are white, or pink, or brown. Could we
see at once all that the great deep
holds in its embrace, we should be
greatly astonished and ought to eonsid-
er what Wisdom has devised and what
Power has made and sustains these
countless and curious creatures.
Fl. T. F.