The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07
FISHES THAT CLIMB TREES
A Queer Specimen of the Finny
Tribe Mt the Smithsonian.
Something About the Cobb and His
Habits-WnIks on Land by the Aid
of His Fins and snaps Up Unsus-
pectfnE Flies Like Frog.

In these days of marvelS in invention
and discoveries the announcement of
something new fails TO arouse little more
than a wise elevation of the eyebrow or a
few "Ahst' Discoveries of new and
hitherto unexplained solutions of perplex-
ing problems in the domains of mechan-
les and nature have become so frequent
as to occasion little more than ordinary
interest. Yet when at the beginning of
the twentieth century it is asserted In
sober earnest that there are fishes which
walk about on the ground and climb
trees and jump through the air to catch
a passing fly. one begins to question the
integrity of his own or the narrator's
mental processes. He looks into the eyes
of the man of science with a doubling
look which changes when he sees the
freak fish face to face.
The average Washingtonian is justly
proud of the Smithsonian Institution and
of the scientific men who are working
there, and when one of these men tells
him of strange things such assertions are
apt to be accepted as the truth. This was
the case when Times reporter was told
by DIR. Bean. the well-known authority
on fishes. of this tree-cIimbing, perambu-
lating piscatorial fiy-catcher.
The fish is called the Cobb. 1t is about
eleven inches long and weighs when full
grown about five or six ounces. AT nrst
glance il looks like sure-enOugh fish. but
a second look suggests that a bullfrog and
a fish got mixed up somehow and grew
together, the bulifrog in the compromise,
taking the head and shoulders, and the
fish the body and tail. Unlike the tsh. the
eyes stick up on the top Of the head ike
a frogs eyes, the resemblance to which is
Irresistible. The pectoral fins are large
and fieshy and long enough to permit the
IL afaNUNr
a seal. The mouth is like the frogs, and
does not at all resemble that Of a fish
But 1t is in the pectoral and ventral fins
where the principal interest in the Cobb
fleshy and fiat. When the fish stands up
on them and raises himself up on them to
look around. the fins are planted on the
ground like the tiippers or forelegs of the
seal which they closely resemble. Unlike
the fins of common fishes. the teshy part
extends far down the fin and is. in fact.
muscle which enables the Cobb not only
to walk about but to cling on to a branch
OF tree or to reed In ciinging to q
branch the fins grasp it firmly like a
monkeys paws. The fish is assisted in
its hold on the twiS by means of its VEN
trail fins which are not entirely separated
like those of most other fishes. but, on
the contrary. have grown together about
midway from the points of articulation
or attachment to the body, thus leaving
an open or cuplike cavity which is used
as a sucker and aids in fastening the
manner as the octopus or devilfish fast
ems itself to the rocks at the bottom of
the ocean. By planting this sucker firm
Iy on to the branch of the Cobb eXhausts
the air in the ventral fin cavity and is
held firmly to the branch until it wishes
to let go
1T is amusing to see these little fellows
perched on reeds and vegetation which
grow on the marshes along the seacoast,"
said DR.. Bean. holding up a jar contain
ing the Smithsonians specimen of the
queer fish. The Cobb lives in the streams
and waters of the Indo-Pacific Coast and
the Burmese River. They have not been
found in Atlantic waters. They come out
on the mud flats and bottoms when the
tide has gone out and hunt for small
crabs and other sea food. They will
climb up on to the low-lying branches of
small bushes or reeds and snap at pass
ing flies and other insects like toads and
frogs. When they are perched up there
they will move their head around and
raise themselves on their front fins like
a prairie dog, as if on the alert for dam
ger II is usual to find them in great
numbers thus engaged. When a fly or
insect passes within easy jumping dis
lance they will spring at it with unerring
aim and deyour it eagerly.