Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-11
FISHES THAT TALK.
Curious Sounds Made by Some DEM
Zens of the Ocean.

Curious Sounds Made by Some Deni-
zens of the Ocean.
From the Baltimore Herald.
Fish that utter sounds are by no means
rare, but they are not often seen or heard
by those not In the fishing business. Some
years ago, in the Gulf of Mexico, a small
highly-colored fish known as the haemulon
was hauled in. The moment it appeared
,, above the surface it opened its mouth and
began to srunt and groan so loudly that
the attention of the entire party was at
tracted to it. The sounds could be heard
from one end to the other of the sixty
ton schooner. One of the fishermen held
the fish in amaZement a few moments and
then was so convinced that it was talking
and begging for liberty that It was tossed
oVerpoard- The giZzard Shad utters a note
tnat can be heard some distance, and the
eel Is SAID to make a noise that comes near
ef TO being musical than any other made
by hsh. The loudest sound uttered by a
hsh came from small dogfish, or shark on
the New England coast. The fishermen
We're hauling them in by the dozen, and as
each hsh came out of the water it uttered
a LOUD croak, and kept it up as though in
great agony, SO that when several We're on
deck the air was full of barking, or croak-
ing.
The drumfish is one of the few fishes
| whose sounds are heard while they are in
the water. The late Spencer F. Baird of
the Smithsonian Institution made some in
tereStlnS experiments with them, and in "A
report described the strange sounds that
came up from the bottom He had the i'm
preston that the fish were directly on the
bottom of the vessel and were in some wav
striking it; but this was found to be a mis-
take. The fish Were in a school some feet
below the surface, and We're in all prob
abll1ty making the sounds by striking their
pharyngeal teeth together. The sounds
produced by these fish have often had Il sin
gular effect upon superstttious seamen who
saw omens in the weird noises
Any one who has slept in a small boat
with his ears a few inches from the water
has heard strange cracking sounds some
times They appeared Ike a series of
cracks or electric shocks, but what crea-
lures produce the noise no seems TO
know
One of the most remarkable of all the
sound-producing fishes is found in China
seas, and an account of its actions has been
given by Lieutenant White of the British
navy. He was engaged in some special
work at the entrance of a river and came
to anchor one night in shallow water. Pres
ehtly strange sounds began to be heard
coming up from the bottom. They were
described as resembling the changing of
bells and the beating of drums. The men
were demoralized and attributed the noises
to spirits, 1t being said that a crew of pi-
rates had gone down there, but the officers
We're convinced that the noise was caused
by some sea animals, and investig atom
that made the sounds by clapping their
teeth together.
The great Australian lung fish so called
because when under water it breathes BY
| It's giils and when out by its air bladder
utterS sounds that have startled men. The
| flsh, which attains length of six or eight
feet, has a singular habit of leaving the
water at times and crawling over the
marshy ground, at this time uttering a
singular barking sound of such peculiar re-
| sonance that at night ii can be heard a
| long distance, a sound very much like that
| of the California drumfiSh.
That whales utter sounds is asserted By
many, and one is known the CRYING
whale from the sounds t makes A certain
village in France was opce thrown into
CONSERVATION by the cries which were
heard from the sea at night, and when
those who mustered up sufficient courage
reached the water they found a school of
whales had stranded and were utta-:ng
cries.
Whether the noises produced by fishes
can be considered language is a sub
ject for debate, but they may well be an
expression of the emotions and have some
meaning, either as call, one individual 10
another or a communication of some
kind