The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-29
WHAT GOLDFISH EAT.
aueeR THINGS FOUND SOMETIMES
az THEIR SToMAcHS.
Voracious Appetites That Grave Shells and
Rocks-A Lucky Fisherman Finds La
cy's Wedding Ring - Taking In Stones
Tor Ballast.


There was printed recently a dispatch
frcra Essex, Conn, telling of the finding Of
O v atch In the stomach of Goldfish. That
incident illustrates the voraoity Of the cod
lsb, and many stories of the same kind are
related in 1.-THE Fisheries and Fishery In
dustries of the United States"
"Codflsh feed upon all marine animals
smaller than themselves which are found
IN tho eamo waters with them and are di-
gestible," says tho writer. "It would
seem useless to give catalogue of the spe-
cies which have been discovered in their
stomachs. For long period of years, be-
fore our naturalists learned to use the
hand dredge, a favorite place in which to
search for the rare invertebrates of the
deep water was tho fish dealers store, and
from the stomachs of Goldfish scores of
shells new to science have been taken.
Since the introduction of improved meth
DDS of deep sea research this mode of col
lecting has been somewhat less prosperous,
but even at the present time many i'm
portant additions 10 zoology are yearly
made by the aid of this omnivorous ami
NAL.
"Codfish swallow bivalve shells of the
largest size, like the great sea CLAIMS, which
are favorite article of food on certain
portions of the coast. For instance, in Fps
witch bay great beds of empty shells of the
sea clam, Mactra ovalis, may be found
upon the bottom. These shells are 'nested,'
the smaller inside of the larger, sometimes
six or seven in a set, having been packed
together in this compact manner in the
stomachs of the Goldfish after the soft parts
have been digested out Some of them
had shreds of the mussels remaining in
them and were quite fresh, having evil
IDENTIFY been but recently elected by the
fish. In Dana's Geology are mentioned
great banks of dead shells off the island of
Grand Manan, which doubtless originated
in the Same manner. Mr.. w. ii. Dali
found some similar beds on the coast Of
Alaska which he attributed to the walrus,
but which are more probably the remains
of mollusks eaten by the Goldfish.
"They feed also upon crabs of all kinds,
Holsters and starflsh and have been seen at
the surface catching the potato beetles and
June bugs which have drifted out from the
shore. 1t is said that they succeed occa-
sionally in capturing duck. The Glou-
cester Telegraph of May g, 1857, reports
the Vineyard Gazette as chronicling the
fact that one James Osborne took Goldfish
at the south side, which weighed over go
pounds. On dressing it two full grown
ducks Told squaws) were found in its en-
trails. They were quite fresh, having
most of their feathers on. Goldfish vary
their diet by browsing upon carrageen, or
Irish moss, which grows on the lodges
near the shore. In searching at the bottom
for shells and worms, Goldfish often pick up
objects which can hardly be regarded as
nutritious. A very amusing catalogue of
such objects might be included in this
chapter in which would be enumerated ar
ticles such as scissors, brass oil cans, gotta
to parings, corncobs and the head of rub
Der doll. The finding of finger rings and
fragments of oil clothing and the heel of q
boot inside of a large Goldfish has suggested
the idea that sometimes they swallow the
fishermen.
"a wedding ring which belonged TO
Pauline Burnam, an English lady who was
lost In tho steamship Angl Saxon, wreck
cd off Chance cove, Newfoundland, in
1881, was recently restored to her relatives
by o st. Johns fisherman, who found tho
ring in the entrails of a Goldfish. The lucky
fisherman received present of ESQ for re-
storing the highly priced memento TO the
ledy's son. (Boston Journal, July o. 1919
"Stones of considerable size are often
found In thoir stomaobs, and fishermen
have theory that this sign of an ap
preaching storm and that the fish thus
take in ballast to enable them to remain
ct tho bottom when the waters arc tro1-
bled. 1t Is moro likely that these stones
are swallowed on account OF sea anemones
or other edible substances which may
be attached I, them, I'm just the same man.
ner that the ihells of mollusks are taken
In for tho sake of tho nutritious parts
which they contain.
at is believed that certain shoals of cod
fish feed almost entirely at the bottom,
while othors prey upon fish. The fisher
men claim to DO able to distinguish these