The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-05-22
WHENCE FISHES. ooLoRs COME.
Why They Are the Most Decorative of
Animals I'm This World.

WHENCE FISHES CoLoRs COME.
Why They Are the Most Decorative of
Animals I'm This World.
There arc lots of funny things to DO
told about fish scalcs," said naturalist
the other day to 4 writer for the Wash
ington Star ''Thc surface of the scales
ordinarily is covered with thin, silver
coating, which derives it's brilliant me-
tallic luster from the presence of many
crystals composed of lime and sub
stance known as 'guanin.' This coat
ing is easily rubbed off, and in one sort
OF European carp, called the bleak
the crystals are so numerous that me-
tallic pigment is derived from them,
known in the arts as argentine which
is used to impart lustcr to the glass
globulcs sold under the name of Roman
pearls When the silver coating is alb
sent tho scales of fish arc lusterlcss
and transparent, us in the case of the
smelt, the abdominal cavity of which,
however, has brilliant, silvery lining
composed of the same substance.
Every one knows from observation
that the fishes of the world arc the most
gorgeous of animals in point of color
ing. The colorS they exhibit are often
due to simple arrangement of pig
ment cells, but the brilliant and change
able hucs, which constitute the great
est beauty of these creatures, are de-
rived from two causes very wide apart.
An illustration of one of these may be
observed in the scales of the herring,
shad or mackercl. being true rides
ccncc, similar to that seen in the pearl,
n n pf,.oo ion, ,,f f1,f,, 80
light as they glance off the surfaces of
the thin plates of which the scales arc
composed. More frequently, however,
the coloration is dependent on the ar
rangement of the pigment cells that urc
in the lower layers of the outer skin of
the fish.
In fish, when the black pigment
prcdominatcs, the color is sombcr, as in
the adult tautog. a slight admixturc
of yellow gives the bronze-likc hue to
the eel, and little moro of the same.
if you please, results in the brighter
green of the black bass and the blue
fish. Red pigments intermixed with
black give the dingy brown of the
carp and some of the catfishes When
the yellow and red outnumber the black
cells there result the tawny colors of
the sunfishes, the cusl1s and of some
varieties of the cod. Red pigment cells
in the lower strata of the outer skin
alone cause the brilliant scarlet of the
rcd snapper and the rosefsh, and when
these are interspersed with black tho
deeper colors of the mangrove snapper
and the ruddy variety of the sea raven
result. When the pigment cells gather
into separate groups according to color,
bands, stripes, spots and standings, inf
mite in their variety, are found.
SIN fish, as in other animals, albinoes
occur. Very curious are the albino
haddocks occasionally taken on our
coasts. The same phenomenon is also
observed in founders, carp and cells. In
the depths of the sea, where light is
scanty, many fishes appear to remain
permanently albinocs.
Fishes very commonly change their
colors to harmonic with the bottoms on
which they live, for the sake of conceal
mcnt. This IS accomplished by the
special secretion of the proper pig
mcnts. On certain lodges along the
New England shore the rocks arc coy
cred with dense growths of scarlet and
crimson scawced, and the fishes which
frequent their ncighborhood become
tinted accordingly. 1t has been sug-
gested, by the way, that the pink of the
salmon's flesh is due to the absorption
of the coloring matter of the crusta-
ccans they feed upon. Probably tho
brilliant coloration of many kinds OF
fishes is designed by nature to attract
the opposite Sex, as the beauty of n
peacock's tail is intended for the same
purpose. Fear or other emotions will
often change the colors of fishes rap
idly.
1T is in tropical seas that the most
brilliantly colorcd and beautiful fishes
of the world are to be found. Warmth
and light are favorable to brilliancy
and variety of hues always. The fishes
of the polar regions and those living at
considerable depth are usually SOM
Der, and when you get down to the
dark abysscs of the ocean they are all
black"