Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-04-03
QUEER FISHES.

She climbing perch Of The Indian region
gained rs name from having been seen
BY its dscovcrer on the stem Of q Pal
.nyra palm five feet above the ground.
where it was apparently struggling, By
meuus OF the spincs on its scales and gill
covers, to get higher. As that happened
nearly Il hundred years ago. and there Is no
authentic instance of the fish having since
been detected climbing trees, the occur
renee nay fairly he regarded as incidental
rather than habituai. There is no doubt,
however that il travels long and far by
land. generally i'll The morning. When the
dew waters is path, although Oh one 0cca-
sioa 1ir. T. l.. Layarti met Z number Of them
iourucying along IL dusty road under 4 mid
day sun. They are said to form Il flvorite
food of the hCalmen On the Gauges, who
have been known to keep them alive for
tire or six days without water, and TO find
them al the end Of that time as lively rs
when first caught. The typical fish cannot
breathe out Of the water: but the climbing
perch can, because above It's gills, and III
the same cavity with them, lies an organ,
composed of a complicated system Of thin
bony plates, which acts as Il lung. The fish
was uptil lately supposed to mako use OF
.he latter from time 10 time il wettlng its
gills, lust as the camel iii the desert draws
upon its internal reservoir OF water III or
der TO quanch It's thirst. This theory, how
ever, has not been able 10 survive the fact
that those who have sought the water III
this lahvrinthinc organ have never yet
!yunA il. Many fishes occur in the
fresh waters 81 the Amazon basin
which are thus truly amphibious. They
nj! have 9ills by which they can breathe,
like other fishes, in water: but they have
also specal contivances for enabling them
TO rcsnire atmospheric air as well. In some
of these it is the Intestinal tube that plays
the pa;t 0? lung; in others IL IS the air blad-
der. the efficiency Of the latter in this ca
pacity neing seen il the fact that it is only
necessary 10 close the passage which con-
necis il with the atmosphere in order to
suliocata the fish. One OF those amphlblous
fishes oi Svuth America Is III the habit CT
travelling by night IN great drores, moving
rs fast as Il Eaan can walk, its only locomo-
tive organs being the spiny ray OF It's pectoral
fins and its tail Another, lniIabliIng tue
swanps Of Carolina, travels by leaps, ana
always, il mas been observed, in The dlrec-
ticu Of the nearest water. tl0st Of these
fishes live in ponds and marshes which arc
liable 10 disappear in the dry season, and II
is ia search OF fresh water that they under
take those nigratons. There arc many
parts Of the world, however, in which at
such seasons this search would be hopeless,
and in those cases the pond fishes ;rstirate,
tha5 is bury themselves i'll the mud at the
bottom of the pools, ana there lie torpid till
the advent OF the rainy season sets them
free. In Ceyion the natives, according TO
Tennent, a:c III the habit Of digging for
them, aud friend who had been present at
onc Oh Ihose fish disginss informed him that
"ihy clay was firm hut moist, and as the man
flung ont Jumps of it with spade, it fell TO
pieces, disclosing fish from nine 10 twelve
inches long, which were full grown and
bealthy, and jumped on the bank when ex-
posed 10 the sunlight