The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-10-10

inent and glowing. They belong to the
lamp fish, the phosphorescent creatures
that light their way as they proceed by
shlmmering phosphorescence produced
by their own nerves.
One OF the light bearers is Lipophryne
lucifer, a truly demoniac form. On the
top of his head he carries an apparatus
that is identical in shape with the COM
| mon light bulb of our ordinary small
electric lamps, From II he diffusea q
blurred white glow that is like star in
the blackness where he lives. That
| glow llluminates a horned head and a
face that is a gargoyle. None Of the
uncanny frightening faces on Notre
Danes famous gargoyles can equal it
in terror of expression and wild exag-
geration.
Like most of the creatures. fished up
from the great depths, this fish Is vo
racious enough to swallow animals far
larger than itself. The first specimen
ever captured fell victim to this habit.
1t swallowed another deep-sea fish that
was almost again as long as it was and
so disarranged its internal mechanism
that it shot upward to the surface,
where it was picked up by Captain
Andersen, who was fishing for turtle off
the Island of Madeira. Since then
many specimens have been taken by
deep-sea travis. The latter capture
was made by the Prince Of Monaco,
while trawling from his steam yacht,
the Princess Alice
Another of the lamp fishes of the sea
that has been taken recently is Aetho-
prora effulcens. This Is one of the big
eyed fish of the oceanic night. It's lu-
minous organ is enormous, lying like
great gland over the entire region be-
hind the rear orbit of the eye and over
tapping the edge of the jaw. He is a
searchlight fish. No human eye has
seen the wonderful creature flashing
along in it's terrible habitat, but sci
entific examination shows that the lu-
m1nous patch that covers its head
serves exactly the purpose that the
headlight OF locomotive does. The
locomotive simile Is carried even fur
Their, for all along it's body the fish has
rows of phosphorescent spots that must
give powerful light when lie Is alive,
for even dead specimens have given off
light enough to make it possible to read
fine print under their illumination.
One can imagine Aethoprora dashing
along on it's trackless path exactly like
train, the headlight shining with da-
ling light in front and the spots gleam-
ing like the lit windows of cars behind.
The Albatross caught one of these
strange and beautiful creatures in the
deep hole off Porto Rico in S,195 feet of
water
The Valdivia captured one Of the
most beautiful of the lamp fish in it's re-
cent expedition in his first report which
has just been made public, Professor
Carl Chun, who had charge Of the expe-
dition, says of this unique animal
1T is a cephalopod Ga deep sea squid),
a representative of the genus Enoplo-
teuthis. 1t has twenty-four organs for
light. Each of its great
tentacles has two. Each eye is sur
with five. The rest are dis
tributed over the body. Nothing at all
Of the wonderful manifestations of
deep-sea forms can be compared even
dlstantly with the appearance Of this
splendid creature. The body appears
as If it was set with a diadem of gor-
geous gems. The center light Of those |
around the eyes is a bright, flashing !
ultra marine blue; the rest are Of a !
1ainty mother of pearl color. On the |
body the first row of lights is ruby.
The middle row Is sky blue The rest
are snow white and mother of pearl.
It was the most beautiful sight that we
aver saw"
The Valdivia gathered scores of 9TH
" strange fish. She was fitted out with
1 new form of trawl, which brought the
BEST results ever attained in deep-sea
searching These nets in principle were
lust like the common purses that close
With metal jaws. The net Is lowered
With the jaws locked A miniature pro-
oeller is so adjusted that as soon as
he trawl reaches the desired depth and
ension is put on the lines that hold it,
is revolution opens the jaws wide.
The propeller screw can be adjusted to
lose the jaws again after making any
lesired number Of revolutions. Thus it
vas possible to fish any depth and lock
he net whenever desired, and the ex-
,lorers were sure that the traw would
)ring to the surface only the creatures
lwelling in certain depths.
In the Gulf of Guinea, twelve thou
and feet below the surface, the Valdi-
las net brought up a fish whose eyes
ad become telescopes. They protruded
utward and straight upward from his
ueer, knife-like head. He was Opis-
hoproclus soeatus. Nobody can even
onjecture for what odd purpose his
yes were formed in this peculiar way
What Is considered one of the strang-
st captures of the Valdivia was that
f new form of predaci fish He
so queer that no scientist has yet
cen able to classify him, and hence he
still nameless He, too, has telescope
yes. Instead of a tail, he has i'm
1ensely long and fine filaments like
pun glass, He shines like a piece of
olished metal, and his mouth is a
cath trap of spiny teeth,
ut cannot be doubted" said DR..
Jean to the writer, that somewhere in {
le sea, at an unknown distance below {
lie surface, there are living certain fish
Ike animals. unknown to science and Of
reat size, which come occasionally to
lie surface and give a. foundation to 4
lch stories as those of the sea serpent 4
To understand how little we know of !,
hat is going on in midocean, think of
lch fish as chiasmodon. This fish I
as been taken only once in history by :
deep-sea net. Yet five times have T
sad specimens been picked up entirely
Y chance on the surface, showing that Z