, 1891-04-23
CATFISH HAD ANOTHER EYE.


Bullying Rangers OF the Ponds That
Were the seavsuEers Of the Seas.
Professor Brown Good mpar the
taste Of catfish meat TO pate de foie gras."
Professor Bashford Dean, of the College of
the City OF New York, says in a paper in
the fish commissioners report. The cat
fish Is a quRrrelsome, hardy and mud low
ing fish. Fish culturists affect to despise
it because il is ugly and a fighter. 1t
grows sometimes to three pounds in weight,
but ordinarily il ranges from half a pound
to a pound. Nearly all fish die when con
fined a short time In muddy. ~stagnant
wnter. but when the vivifying oxygen Is
exhausted from tho water the catfish rises
to the surface, thrusts its snOut out Of the
water and sucks air into its stomach.
Through its porous skin also IL takes in
the oxygen Of the air. Like the frogs, the
catfish hibernates, refusing food after No
yember, and buryinR itself in the oOze at
the bottom Of the pond In December. 1t
reappears In February or March, or after
a thunder storm, some nhturslists aver.
Then 1t is hin and ravenous.
Catfish were planted not long ago in
lake RonkOnkomA, and fishermen com
plain that they are ogres-as IThoreau
wrote, "a blOOdthirsty and bullying set of
rangers, ever with lance at rest" They
pause In their rowing, sink headfOremost
in the mud aud wait for their prey, with
their black muzzles just protruding from
the ooze, while their little black eyes
glance restlessly in every direction. The
catfish will bolt anything from II bit of
salt mackerel to a piece OF tin can. It's de.
struction Of the young Of other fish is
enough to breed a fish famine in a lake or
pond, OF their own young, however. they
are very careful.
Tn adult fish always swims with the
young fry wandering near, exactly as
chickens accompany the mother hen, and
at the sign OF danger the little bullheads
hustle to the mother fish and get behind
her for protection, while, all alert, she
waves defiance with her whiskers. When
aroused catfish give hidden Ii fearful
battle with their harbs. They fight most
Ia the breeding season, males battling
with males. or twelve catfish observed by
Professor Dean nine showed marks OF ter
rife strife. The soft parts Of their fins and
tails were torn to tatters and four eyes
were destroyed, one old male catfish being
blind In both eyes, while the lower third Of
It's tail and half OF the left pectoraI fin were
missing.
Professor Dean finds evidences that the
catfish has u rudimeutary eyei In the middle
OF its forehead. There Is "A median skull
opening which appears to connect the sur
face Of the head with the brain. There are
evidences that "A lens once existed, and 10 Is
believed from microscopic examination of
the brain that the opening affords a sensa-
ton Of light to the fish. Professor Dean
argues that the catfish is a descendant of
monster placoderms that once existed in
the waters Of the earth in q remote geo
logical epoch; that from the known habits
of the catfish in burying itself In the mud,
with only its nose sticking out of the ooze,
II must have been in Its original size a ter.
rible scOurger Of the sea, able to see be-
fore, behind and above. while concealed.
ready to dart on its prey.-New York sun.