The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-06-25
FISH LIVE ON LAND.
SPECIMENS WHICH EXIST OUT
OF NATURAL ELEMENT.
Many Varieties Noted by Scientists of
Amphibious HabIts-Burrow Deeply
in Mud When the Water Supply Gives
Out.

The sailors old stay-at-home mother,
ing fish, but yet could think mountains
OF sugar and rivers of rum quite pos
sible, would have been hard to con-
vince about some CT the fishy wonders
which have been recently discovered.
Fish that can live and breathe COM
fortably on land; fish that use their
fins as limbs and walk with them over
the land; fish that climb trees and are
dug alive out of dry land, like pota-
toes, certainly seem to be outside the
bounds of possibility.
Amphibious fishes are to be found In
various quarters of the globe. Begin
ming in Europe, there is the blenny,
which, when kept in aquaria, has been
proved to require at least an hours
pure air out of water to preserve 1t
In good health and spirits. In the
tropics is found the periophthalmus,
whose front fms are powerful and
shaped something like legs. This fish
Is singularly amphibious and hops
over the muddy flats in search of food,
notably the crabs and mollusks left
stranded by the r~etreating tide. This
ash is so active on land that it is diff
hcult to catch, and various specimens
brought from Mauritius were secured
by means Of a shotgun-truly a unique
method of killing fish. This fish is
also found at Ceylon, and it is notice
able that when chased they prepare
to escape by land rather than by wat
er; they really seem to appreciate the
sport. Professor Moseley records that
he chased one at Trincomali harbor,
which skipped along before him until
1t reached a rock, where it sat on a
ledge out of the water in the sun and
waited till he came up, when it once
n8re skipped away to another rock
further out of reach. At each jump
this fish could clear a foot's length.
The periophthalmus koelreuteri Is
found principally at the Fijian islands,
and is perfectly at home on land, where
it elects to settle upon the dry roots
of the mangrove trees. The first am
phibious fish ever remarked by a Eu-
ropean naturalist was the now we'll
known climbing perch or anabas. The
tales of the natives Of India that such
fish existed were naturally not credit
ed, but Daldorf received ocular demon
stration when he was taken by a ma
tive to a fa%stdrying swamp, from
which he was told he would see the
fish walking, using their fins as limbs.
In effect he did see a long procession
of this wonderful fish deliberately
marching over the grass from their
discarded haunts in search of another
where more water could be found. Lat
er on the same naturalist observed
these fish climbing small palms, pre-
sumably in quest of food. In Ceylon
the migratory habits of these fishes are
so well known to the natives that when
they have stored any in a tank in
closure they always cover it to pre-
vent the fish from climbing out. This
would certainly appear a travellers tale
of the tallest description did not sci
ence vouch for it's authenticity. In
Texas the same order of fish is found.
WHICH,, WASH COuuuSu ny an u~QSuSpect-
ing naturalist in a deep pail, were OBJ
served to be ~leisurely crawling I'D the
sides and out into open air, which in
no way appeared to incommode their
breathing apparatus. In both America
and India the existence of fish is rec
ognized which at the approach of dry
weather burrow down into the earth.
and there hibernate until a heavy
downfall of rain brings them to the
surface again. The present writer re-
members, when a child in Madras, In
dia, being taken out after a brisk mon
Don shower to observe the rain pud-
dies in the heretofore sun-baked road
which then contained a lively tribe of
tiny fish, which the natives were catch
ing industriously. The fish are very
small and bony, but the natives are
glad to add them as a zest to their
simple vegetable curries. The igno-
rant assert that such fish must have
been rained down from the sky, but
in reality they belong to the species
which is wont to burrow until wet
weather returns.