The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-10-08


The sailors old stay-at-home mother,
MN could not credit his tale about fly
mo fish, but yet could think mountains
Il sugar and rivers of rum quite pos
chile. would have been hard to con-
vince about some of the flshy wonders
which have been recently discovered.
Fish that can live and breathe com
tortabIy on land; fish that use their
fms as limbs and walk with them over
tbe land; fish that climb trees and are
ding 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 bIenny,
which, when kept in aquaria, has been
proyed to require at least an hours
pure air out of water to preserve it
in good health and spirits. In the
tropics is found the periophthalmus,
whose front fins are powerful and
shaped something like legs. This fish
is singularly amphibious and hops
over the muddy fats in search of food,
notably the crabs and mollusks left
stranded by the retreating tide. This
fish is so active on land that it is diff
fcult to catch, and various specimens
brought from Mauritius were secured
by means of shotgun-truly 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
it reached a rock, where it sat on
ledge out of the water in the sun and
waited till he came up, when It once
more 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
1t elects to settle upon the dry roots
of the mangroVe trees. The first am
phibious fish ever remarked by Eu-
Topean naturalist was the now we'll
known climbing perch OF 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 ma
tive to a fastdTying 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 Geylon
the migratory habits of these fishes. are
SO we'll known to the natives that when
they have stored any in a tank in
closure they always cover il to pre-
vent the fish from climbing out. This
would certainly appear travellers tale
OF the tallest description did not sci
ence Vouch for it's authenticity. In
Texas the same order Of Ash is found,
which, when confined by an unsuspect-
ing naturalist in deep PAL, were OBJ
served to be leisurely crawling up the
Saes and out into open, air; which in
mo way appeared to incommode their
breathing apparatus. In both America
ana, India the existence Of fish is rec
osnlzed which at the approach Of dry
weather burrow down into the earth,
ana there hibernate until a heavy
uowntall Of rain brings them to the
surface again. The present writer re-
members, when child in Madras, In
ula' being taken out after a brisk mon
soon shower to observe the rain pud-
ules in the heretofore sun-baked road,
"n'eh then contained a lively tribe Of
slny nsh, which the natives were catch
ing lndustriously. The fish are very
slall and bony, but the natives are
siau to add them as a zest to their
simple vegetable curries. The igno-
rant assert that such fish must have
Deen rained down from the sky, but
n reality they belong to the species
mnicn is wont to burrow until wet
weather returns.