The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-11-20


The Curksus Fish Which ExiAt Inside an
Animated Lodging House.
In walking along the half-su Emerged
ringing reef Of the Tortugas group of
Islands my attention was attracted by
numbers Of great, black, worm-like
creatures strewn over the bottom just
within the breakers. They were Hol-
othatrta1as, or sea-cucumbers. The sea-
cucumber looks like great, grotesque
caterpillar. made out of leather and
filled with water, and handling causes
1t to eject tive streams CT water with
considerable force. After placing one
OF them upon the seat of the boat, We
found that the creature had elected all
OF Its interior organs actually thrown
them of. This would have been n
grievous calamity to almost any animal
except a sea-cucumber; but they have
the faculty of reproducing lost parts to
wonderful degree, and if placed back
y the water would soon provide them
selves with an entirely new set.
If kept for long time without food,
ring will be formed about the tail
which grows deeper and deeper, until
finally the piece drops off. In short
time another ring appears and another
piece is sacrificed-a most remarkable
operation, you will say, but quite in
genious when we understand it. The
animal is merely retrenching, and
as the food supply becomes smaller and
smaller, portions of the body are thrown
off, so that there will not be so much to
feed, until at last the sea-cucumber
will sacrifice its entire body to save
the mouth or head, and finally this dies.
l caught one and put it in a glass jar.
Being large animal, it had soon ex-
hausted the air in the water, and twist
ed its body deliberately about to show
its discomfort, for the sea-cucumber
and all other water animals require air
just as much as ourselves. For several
moments the sea-cucumber writhed
about in it's lazy fashion, when, all at
once, out of one end / saw peeplng
curious, delicate head.
A moment later it was still further
out "a transparent, shining fish, and
soon, with convulsive wriggle, it freed
itself from its strange prison and swan
about moment, then settled to the
bottom. It's body was so delicate and
transparent that print could almost be
read through it, and specimen that L
have before me now, though shrunk
and hardened in alcohol for several
years, is still almost like glass.
But how did the fish get in the sea-
cucumber? This was, at first, q puzzle,
and to ascertain whether it was acct
dental or not. we collected large num-
Der of cucumbers (HOlOthltrd .fOridj-
ana, and in nearly every case, as soon
as the animal had exhausted the air in
our aquarium, the silvery, eel-like
fiera fer-for this is the fish's name
would come wriggling out, swim about
for moment as if daZzled and Devil
dered, and then sink to the bottom and
die. 1t was evident that the fish was
not eaten by the holothurian, and
equally plain that the fish was not
adapted for the outside world. Hence,
we assumed that the fierasfer was a
boarder in the cucumber, and such is
really the case. Though ] made many
experiments, the fish could never be
induced to return to its home, though
freshly aerated water was constantly
supplied. The conclusion that seemed
most tenable was highly improbable,
and so the puzzle remained until it was
solved by the curator of the great
aquarium at Naples, Italy.
He found that his sea cucumbers were
also inhabited by q fierasfer, and, by
carefully watching them, he saw the
fishes come out and return. In the
large tank the fishes ventured out swan
around, and probably fed, and finally
returned; and here is probably the
most remarkable part of it. Instead
of returning head first, az you would
NATURALLY expect, the tierasfer slipped,
not its head, but the tip of its tail into
the orifce. In moment the sea-cu-
cumber relaxed to draw in water, and
the cunning fish slipped in an inch
then rested; another relaxation by the
cucumber, and another inch gained, and
so on, until, to the amaZement of the
italian naturalist, the ierasfer disap-
peared, tail fir t, within the very ac-
commodating animal. The ferasfer
then is a boarder in the sea-cucumber,
tenant that not only lives upon its
host without pay, but does not hesitate
to attack it when hungry. This has
been proved by Prof. Semper, who
found pieces of the water-lung of the
living hotel in the stomach of the board
er; but, as we have seen, the former Is
able to reproduce lost parts, and prob
ably does not suffer. The boarder also
undoubtedly feeds upon food taken by
its host.-Prof Holden, IN Golden
Days.