Smyrna times., 1905-09-06
mr. naHUnNJ
SOME VERY ODD FISH
CURIOUS FORMS OF LIFE THAT ARE
FOUND IN THE SEA.

Peculiar Tunicate FamiIy-The Bar
nacle at One Time Was Believed to
Become a Bird-The CuttIehsh.
The commonest inhabitant Of sea or
shore in olden times was invested with
fabulous qualities. The homely barna-
Gle, for instance, because Of its feath-
cry breathing apparatus, was said to
be the parent of a future bird, as a
proof of which ancient wiseacres point
ed to the rudimentary feathers. Ger
rard, naturalist who fiourished at the
close of the sixteenth century, actually
gives credence to the ridiculous legend
in his Herbal and furnishes a de-
tailed account of the alleged metamor-
phosis.
Even today, Notwithstanding the
elaborate and intricate systems of sci
entific classification, there are still
many of the marine fauna with little
more individuality than can be ex-
pressed in a Latin label. 1t is with a
few of these odd denizens of the deep
that we are Immediately concerned.
But few will have happened across
the sea fan, one of the Zoophytes or
animal plants. 1t is found on the Dev-
on coast occasionally. 1t consists of
caIcareous framework or skeleton from
SIX to twelve inches in height, with
many branches, which are covered
with a flesh colored membrane. The
latter is really composed of innumera-
BILE polyps which, curious to relate, Sc
crete from the salt water the lime nee
essary for the building up of their
common support.
The sea pen is not dissimilar. 1t is
only three or four inches long and,
like a quill, is naked at one end and
''feathered" at the other, the polyps be-
ing on the edge Of the feathers. The
sea pen is phosphorescent and when ir-
ritated, either by being injured or
thrown into fresh water, glows brightly.
A slightly higher but still lowly form
of oceanic life is the tunicata. The
species is so called because the body
is incased in a stout coating or tunic,
consisting Of partly cellulose, which, as
we know, is also largely present in the
vegetable world.
One variety Of the tunicate or as
cidian Is shaped like a double necked
bottle. All have two openings, one
for the influx and one for the outflow
of water.
The salpa is a transparent, tubular
genus Of the tunicate family found in
tropical and subtropical seas. 1t ex-
lists in two separate forms, one of
which lives alone and produces a mum
Der of the others by a sort of budding
process.
A number Of these latter unite side
by side so as to make up a series OF
cluster. Each of the numerous salps
in the group lays a single egg, which
in its turn evolves into one of the sol
itary individuals.
Sea grapes might with greater rea
son be classed as belonging to the veg
etable world beneath the waves, an(
yet these sea fruit are not so innocu
Gus as they would appear. They ar
the eggs Of the embryo cuttle1sh, on
of the most repulsive and sinister o
submarine monstrosities.
The cuttlefish swims by ejecting
Jet of water from a tubular openin
near the head. Having an interna
skeleton, it Is closely allied to the vel
tebrates. With it's eight arms provide
with suckers, its parrotlike beak, II
prominent eyes and its playful habit
throwing mud in the eyes Of its en'
mics by secreting an inky fluid, it Is
queer creature.
Its relative, the octopus, Is yer
similar, but Is minus the two tent'
cles, or feelers, possessed by the cuttl
fish. They are widely distributed
tropical and subtropical seas and ofte
grow to q large size.
Encounters with them form frui
full theme for travellers tales. Perhal
the most imaginative is that fine pie
of writing descriptive of a fight wi
one of these devilfsh (as they a
sometimes called) in Victor Hugo
''Toilers of the Sea"
There are some very peculiar del
zens of the seas which wash the Scot
coasts. One of these enjoys the e
phonious title of the lumpsuck'
Thick and clumsy in shape, with
rougn ana Warty skin, ltS name ~
cOngruous one. Nor IS it made me
acceptable by its blue, purple and
ange tints and its oily flesh, albeit
latter appears to be keenly relished
seals.
The particular apparatus which glN
this ungainly fish its name is pow
ful sucker or disk on the lower part
oF OF
ment is not very clear, but by means
the sucker it can in stormy weather
turbulent waters anchor its sclun
bulk safely TO the bottom. When
young fry are Matched in shallow wa
they Immediately attach themsel
by means Of their suckers to the N
fish, which is said to watch over th'
The fifteen mound stickleback. Sol