The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-13
CURIOUS FISH.
some Oddities That Sing and Sail
81 In the Seas Depths. .-.
From the London Globe.

80 In the Seas Depths. , .-
From the London Globe.
Curious enough. no doubt, are some
of our own native fish, especially those
which anglers hook but do not see or
J catch-so non-angling listeners say
and make the basis of steep Stories -
But in other parts of the world than
our brumous isles there are various
queer fish such as would indeed aston
1sh the most veteran brethren of the
cork, and quilr' at home. One need
only mention, as too familiar by de-
scription to need more than mere al
fusion, the torpid mudfish, which, in
various climes, in dried up receptacles
dream the happy hours away until re-
Vivi1ied by the cold water cure. Far
more curious and less generally known
are the pogonias. These, there is lit
tie doubt, form the basis of legends of
many an ancient mariner of the past
as to weird mysterious music at sea-
Perhaps in the dim and distant past
they originated the story of sirens. At
any rate they probably have been the
cause of the ineXplicable sounds which
from time to time have "aWed de-
lighted and amazed" generations of
mariners, superstitious folk even to
this day
The pogonias, or vocal fish, were de-
scribed by voyager in the China seas
good many years ago as making ex-
traordinary sounds round the bottom
of the vessel, mixture of deep organ
notes, bells and the bass croaking of
large frogs. The interpreter stated
that "a troop of fish of an oval and
flattened form" had followed the ship,
which probably meant pogonias, which
also have appendages to the jaw re-
sembling those of our native barbel
Mention is made of similar sounds also
by Humboldt, though that eminent ex-
plorer does not seem, any more than
humber auditors, to have understood
the cause of what he heard. His ex-
perience was gained in the South sea
on Feb. 20, 1903, and he mentions "a
very extraordinary noise resembling
drums beaten in. the air" (stories of
aerial trimmings are among the weird
legends of ancient mariners of bygone
days. heard spontaneously in all
parts of the vessel" This began at Z
and concluded at p. m. But how the
pogonias produce this musical effect
we know not; at any rate they are
astonishing fish.
shooting fish-science terms them with
agreeable facility of pronunciation the
acknowledgements astonish the
native angler, who is accustomed to
practice throwing a fly, or bait, to
given spot with deXterity, but not to
a fish that emulates his accuracy of
aim. Our insular acquaintance with
them is occasional for now and again
specimens of the family have been
met with on Ol1r and re- known
as rays sunbeam" finely colored
fish. The shooting fish is a native of
tropical seas, wearing the colors which
match his locality. He is high in the
back perpendicularly. thin and fatten-
ed in the sides, with elevated fins,
from which trail filaments. His main
popularity is, however, a tubular
snout. which may be called a natural
air gun. With it the fish makes such
shooting as might be envied by some
of the competitors at Bisley. For hav-
ing subaqueously stalked a fly or in
sect on leaf or twig some feet above
the water, the fish, having the tip of
It's snout just above the surface, elects,
usually with unerring air, a drop of
liquid, which hits the insect, and the
latter. tumbling into the water, is in
stantly devoured by the shooter. The
Chnese-even as they utilize the in
stinct of the cormorant for their own
fish catching-keep shooting fish for
their amusement in glass vases, where
they practice their feats. Brilliant
colors, in perpendicular bands distin-
guish the chaetodontidae. Our own
B.ttish perch, by the way, when in full
condition. is, in a humber way, SINH
larly handsome.
SCay-at-home anglers would find
some of the fish in the waters round