The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-06-05
PHosPHoREscENT FISHES.
Extraordinary Little Animals Which
Serve rs Lanterns of the Sea.

Of the various phosphorescent crea-
Mres which abound in the warm wa
ters of the tropics the pyrosoma, or
fire-body, is among the most curious in
its form. its habits of living, and its
wonderful power of Illuminating the
water. This little lantern of the sea
is so carefully described by DR.. Gard
ner as he saw it on his voyage to Brazil
and to Ceylon that his account can not
fail to be of interest. On his passage
from England and while about 2 de-
grees of south latitude and 26 degrees
of west longitude he was called up by
the captain about 1880 o'clock at
night.
When | reached the deck one of the
most magnificent scenes imaginable
presented itself. All around the ship
to as great a distance as the eye could
reach the swell, which was running
pretty high. was emitting from its sur
face at short intervals long. broad,
sheets of phosphorescent light, which
continued bright only a second or two
and then disappeared.
The continued glare of these long
streams of light, their sudden appear
ance and disappearance, as if detached
portions of sheet-lightning were flash
ing from wave to wave, gave a
wild and terrific aspect to the surface
of the ocean. The reflection from it
was so great that the sails of the ship
were illumined by the glare.
The ships wake for about fifty
yards was one continuous stream of
pale yellow light, upon which. ever
and anon, were floating away and be-
coming extinct curious masses of a
circular shape, varying from half a
foot to two feeti in breadth, of livid hue,
similar to that which burning sulphur
emits. These masses retained their
livid, flame-like appearance till they
were about six or eli CHIT yards from the
ship, when they gradually become ex-
tinct, their beautiful color contrasting
singularly with the pale yellow stream
on which they tioated. This curious
state of the sea lasted only about a
quarter of an hour, after which the
water assumed its usual aspect, the
foam at the ships bow presenting only
the sparkling appearance which it
usually exhibits with the tropics.
1T is well known that the circular
masses of light which | have described
are produced from aggregated masses
of very small marine animals, to which
the name of pyrosoma is given. | did
not. however, capture any, as my tow
ing-net was at this time out of order,
but during my voyage to Ceylon was
more fortunate.
'On the 25th of November, in or
4 IanYaoc Of 1atit,,1n ,,l 10
grees Of west longitude, with cloudy
weather and the thermometer at 81 at
noon, we came shortly after dark into
field of these animals. and though
the brilliancy of their light was not so
great as on the former occasion, they
were more numerous, for the ship sailed
through them for several hours.
They were seen in broad shoals at
great but irregular distances from each
other. The towing-net soon procured
me a large supply of the extraordinary
animals of which the shoals were COM
posed. They give out bright, vel
lowish-green light, which they retained
for some time after they were brought
On board.
Each mass was shaped not unlike
the figure of glove, being hollow, and
closed at one end. They varied lit
tie in size, but were generally about
four inches in length. The little ami
mails of which these masses are made
up are placed horizontally, and lie
closely packed over each other, their
heads being toward the outer surface
When kept in 4 glass in salt water they
soon separated from each other, and,
being very transparent, were then
scarcely TO be distinguished from the
water. They taste exactly like the
fresh oysters"