The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-24
FISHES ON THE LAND.
Curious Specimens of the Finny Tribe
That Forsake the Water.


From, the Pittsburg Despatch
My friend was not an angler-as when he
went fishing he invariably left hook, line
and rod at home-always taking a rife; and
more he never shot at fish in the water,
yet he never failed in making a goodly bag.
All this savors of improbability, but will
be understood when the habits of the fish
he hunted are known. My friend lived on
one of the South Pacific islands, so far
from civilization that it was rarely visited
or even heard of.
"My first fish hunt" he said, twas an &C
cident | was out one day after some large
water birds, and in following them up lost
my way and found myself on an unfrequenJ-
ed beach and one that had never seen be-
fore.
The tide was we'll out, leaving long
stretch of mud glistening in the sun and
covered with mangroves and ther roots,
growing in fantastic shapes-lilke minnie
bridges and loops. The mud was so deep
that frequently stopped to rest, reclining
upon branch or root. AS | took a seat in
this way for the third or fourth time |
noticed something leap or fall to the ground.
A glance showed it to be fish and while |
looked it hoped away--like frog-and
upon rock, some 20 feet away, stopped
and appeared to eve me. | was so astOnished
moments | did not think of securing the
little creature; then l mechanically raised
my rifle and brought down the strangest
game imaginable-a fish that had crawled
out of water and upon root Of its own
accord-in short, an amphibious fish. l
dropped it into my pocket, and on my way
home found place where many could be
seen hopping about, just as much at home
on land as a frog, and on the following days
I 1aA r,t,T{ nrf =hnntI1O
strange land fishes as did birds"
My friends account might be considered
a fish story in all the term conveys to the
lover of exaggeration were it not that this
peculiar habit has been observed in num-
her of fishes by many naturalists.
The fish referred to by my friend was the
periophthalmus, little fellow about six
inches in length, with big head and pro
| truding eyes. The small body is of a rich
brown hue, and apparently supported upon
the tail and the two forelegs. The latter
are fms however, but so stout and power
| full as TO attract immediate attention. The
| fish is. then, to certain extent, modified or
| adapted to its life on land, and at certain
| times, probably when hungry, it deliber-
ately chambers upon the shallow mud flats
| and makes its way along by hopping to the
| dry shore, where it searches for certain
shell-less mollusks that abound there. The
| little fish is also enabled to climb the stumps
| of the mangrove, as we have seen, and, all
| in all, possesses habits more like those Of d
| frog than a fish. If we examine one of these
| fishes closely we shall find that nature has
made this habit an easy one by providing
| the animal with a chamber or storehouse
| for conveying air, so that when out of
water it breathes it directly, and when in,
| through the medium Of the gills. The
periophthalmus has several allies that have
| similar habits, in various parts of the world,
| and III nearly every country we find fishes
that can exist for greater or less time out
| of water In the works of some of the old
writers we find mention of fishes that
migrated across land to reach water when
! that in their own pools disappeared; but as
! SO many Of the statements of the old natur-
alists were absurd this, too, was doubted
until finally a well-known naturalist in
India remade the discovery.
He was engaged in studying the animals
of the country and, during one of his per-
ambulatons, he suddenly found himself
| standing among school of fishes of about
II inches in length, all squirming and strug-
Cling in the same general direction; most
| of them were standing upright, poised upon
a tripod formed by the tail and the side or
pectoral fins, and by moving them back-
ward aud forward like legs, the fishes, with
| many falls, moved slowly along Curious
To see what was the cause of this unusual
migration. the naturalist followed back
over the trail and found hundreds of the
fishes crawling out Of a pool Of muddy
water--the pool was drying up, and the
fishes. aware of the fact, were migrating
overland for better supply. Their in
stinct served them we'll, for not an eighth
of a mile away the naturalist found small
pond of clear water, into which the ad-
vance guard of the horde were crawling, not
in the least injured by their trip overland
and several hours or more out OF their
native element. These fishes are known
now as climbing percheS, for the reason
that they have on rare occasions been
observed climbing palm trees; on being
captured high up on tree Of that kind by
the naturalist Daldorf, who supposed that
the FISH were after food or water that might
have been caught in the tree. IL was long
thought that the climbing perch carried a
store of water TO moisten its gills during its
dry-land trips, but this has been shown TO
be a mistake The fish has store-houses or
reservoirs in the side of ITS head in which 1t
carries air. In certain parts OF India the
climbing perch is valued as a food fish, and
the fishermen carry them for days In a