The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-14
QUEER FISH OF THE SEA.
CAPT. @. c. HICKMAN KNIGHTED
FOR HIS VALUABLE WORK.

Lie Ecooped and DredRed rom the
sea-Georgia's Waters TEEN With
Rare Sea Life.
Few fishermen can boast of such a prizC
as that worn by Capt. G. c. Eckman of the
Swedish bark Engelbrekt It Is mark o.
the Norwegian kings favor, and confers
the rank of the knight Of the Order Of
Wasa upon Capt Eckman.
The decoration is a handsome one, star
shaped, enameled, and set in precious stones
with pendant sheaf Of grain and the
kingly crown, the decoration being reversi-
bic, and is to be worn on the left breast, at
tached by green ribbon on all occasions
when in the presence of King Oscar IL,
who. in knighting Capt. Eckman, did
so as mark of esteem for the valuable
contributions that he has made Of land and
marine life to the Upsala university. and it
is said that the scientific fisherman is the
first active master of sailing vessel who
has ever worn the jewel Of knighthood of
the Order of Wasa.
The decoration was forwarded to the
consul general of Norway and Sweden at
| Marseilles, where Capt. Eckman was inter-
cepted and the jewel presented by the min
ister in most complimentary speech.
CAPT. ECKMAN's WORK.
Capt. Eckman has for the past four years,
in his merchant trading voyages collected
| extensive specimens of land and marine
life, principally the latter, and the MORN
ING NEWS has on the occasion of Capt.
| Eckman's two last annual voyages to this
port. where he is an old trader, described
some OF the valuable specimens that he had
| collected for his alma mater, and for which
he has never asked and has steadfastly re-
| fused remuneration.
| The researches of Capt. Eckman for
| specimens of marine life have been made in
the waters of the Gulf, the Gulf stream, the
Caribbean sea, the North and South At
lantic oceans, the Bay Of Biscay, the
Mediterranean, the Black sea, the German
ocean, and in the Baltic, and in the rivers
| or arms or the sea at every port.
| The Engelbrekt is now in port loading
lumber and cotton for Santandes, Spain.
Capt. Eckman left Umea, Sweden, in Oc-
tober last, and after arriving at Marseilles
he forwarded to Upsala University some
eighty large and small bottles of surface
| "scoopings,n principally of animalculae and
jelly fish, and the faculty, in acknowledge
ing the receipt of them, say that there were
many rare specimens in the collection.
ODD FISH CAUGHT OFF TYBEE.
Capt. Eckman came into Tybee Roads
last week, seeking and while at anchor
| found many fine specimens of shell
| and jelly fishes and the lower order
| Of the pennatula family and a col
lection of "sea feathers" a marine
animal of low order. He says that the
| variety is a distinct one, very rare, and to
be found only on the east coast of North
| America, at the mouths of rivers. The fish
is almost heart shaped, top incrusted with
small lime cells or pips, the under side q
dark pink color approaching to brown, and
| with stem which gives them the appear
ance of small mushrooms. They are found
embedded in the mud. He has about three
dozen of them, to which he attaches great
| value.
GEORGIA WATERS RICH IN SPECIMENS.
| Capt. Eckman says that he finds Georgia
waters prolific in rare specimens, and on
| this trip he has secured some very fine
specimens of melanides, or small conical
and spiral shell life, both fresh and salt
| water specimens, which he says are found
only in Georgia waters He has one fine
specimen of jdntheinG fragilis taken in
north latitude 27o 30, longitude west $50,
a beautiful specimen and the only live one
he has ever secured. He has it preserved in
alcohol and at time when the animal had
come out of its shell to feed. The shell is
tinged with a delicate pink color.
The 'scoopings" and deep dredgings or
the voyage over from Marseilles on Capt.
Eckman's last voyage were made in the
Straits of Gibraltar, in the waters of the
West Indies, in the Gulf stream and Gulf, il
the Atlantic and in Tybee roads and in the
harbor, and his collection now numbers
about eighty bottles, which are carefully
marked, and in addition catalogue is KEEP
describing the species, the date when taken
and the latitude and longitude where taken
WHERE RARE FISH ARE CAucur
The rarest and most valuable specimens
of marine life, Capt. Eckman says, ar
found between 90 and 2S0 north latitude
and 400 to So longitude west Many curl
GUS specimens are to be found from the
Gulf stream to Tybee, and he finds among
the Gulf weeds fine specimens of shrimp
crawfish, tape fish, small shellfish, ant
specialties of pteropods. The Gulf weed
Capt. Eckman says, fairly teens with
strange and rare species of marine life. an(
he has bonneted crawfish which Is a curl
osity, and is found in latitude 22e to "a
north, and longitude sos to go west Hi
collection of jelly fish is certainly a rare
one. and one of his specimens seen under
microscope shows that it has swallowed {
smaller specimen, and the latter has swal
lowed a small octopus, but the lens is no
powerful enough to reveal upon what tn
octopus had fed before it was swallowed. I
affords fair exemplification of the trutl
of the couplet that:
Big fieas have little fieas to bite EN-
And these have less; and SO ad iTltinitunl.
VALUABLE COLLECTION
Capt. Eckman, when he left here las
year, took with him in addition to his owl
collections on the voyage over twenty-five
bottles of fresh and salt water col
lections made by Jacob Gardner
OF this city, and the Upsala
faculty say that no less than twenty of
| these specimens were never met
with before by them and are most valuable
acquisitions to the museum. From George
Noble Capt. Eckman secured about 1,5O(
specimens of caleoptera collected in Flor
ida, Georgia and the two Carolinas, and Up
sala never got richer contributions Of bugs
beetles and insects as were embraced In Mr.
Mobiles collection. Capt Eckman tool
over an extensive collection of Georgis
snakes cells, lampreys and bull frogs, and 6
Texas horned frog which is the only speci
men of the kind in the Upsala museum.
BEAUTIFUL JELLY FISH.
In leaving port here his quick eve de
tected school of very rare jelly fish, of &
golden yellow, in the wake of the vessel
and, quickly casting his net. he captured
three; but he succeeded in perfectly conserv.
ing only one, as nearly ali his alcohol had
been exhausted. Two he tried to save
in a weak solution of alcohol aui