The Raymer enterprise., 1915-09-30
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the slime pores and canals are greatly developed
and must exude large quantities OF slime? Then
too on deep-sea expeditions. on favorable occa.
sons, as for instance. a dark calm night fishes
that have been brought to the surface and placed
In water were seen to fash light from the ends
OF the tentaces the phosphorescent pores.
precisely as We should have expected from
study OF these organs. Major Acoek in his
interesting volume. A Naturalist In Indian
Seas" mentions specimen brought up from a
profound depth which "glimmered like a ghost
II lay dead al the bottom of the pail OF turs
bid seawater." So that by inference. as well as
by actual observation. we must believe that what
we call luminous organs in deepsea fishes. emit
light into the darkness about them In the case
of fishes totally blind the absence OF light is
compensated for by the development of enor.
nous antennaeke feeers modified from fin
rays. 90 that these fishes can feel their way.
as it We're. through the darkness.
The absence Of light however entails another
important consequence As is well known. no
plant life can exist In darkness. There is there.
fore no vegetation Of any kind in the profound
depths OF the sea The deep-sea fishes are. in
consequence NIL carnilorous the more powerful
ones sezing and deyouring the weaker ones 1t
is cold black world where might reigns su.
preme. Many have enormous mouths and for.
midable teeth TO insure holding the prey In
some forms the teeth are so large that the mouth
cannot be shut,
The temperature of the water in the profound
depths Of the sea. Is always low and near the
freezing point. This Is true everywhere. even
at the equator Undoubtedly this has an effect
upon the fishes although il is not yet known
what II is The amount of oxygen dissolved In
the water also is rIuch less than in water nearer
the surface. The breathing apparatus OF the
deepsea fishes is modified to suit their peculiar
conditions. The gill hlaments have become much
reduced in size. and in a number Of instances
some of the gill arches bear no gill flaments at
all The fishes are apparently adapted to a
much smaller oxygen supply than those living
In rivers or In the shallow sea.
When We think Of the vast diversity among
these fishes. the question arises: Are they ali
representatives of a single family or group that
has become specially adapted to life In the deep
sea; or dc they belong to different families or
groups? One need hardly be an chthyologist
to answer this question. Even cursory exam.
ination OF the plates in work on deep-sea
fishes will show that different types are repre-.
sented. In fact, great many families are in.
eluded In the deep-sea fauna There are sharks
and rays; samoaoids. herrings. perches. cells.
anu representatives vi tuhily UtntT families. We
can explain this hnterogenety among them IN
this way We may imagine that fishes OF many
different kinds in their search, so to speak. for
the nnoccupied corners Of the sea- found haven
in these deeper waters where they were free
from pursuit by their enemies In the course of
time they migrated farther and farther into the
deep, change in habits taking place pari passu
with the changes In structure Having started
out with different organizations and possessing
different degrees OF variability. they became DIFF
ferentiated in diverse directions. so that while
some developed enormous mouths powerful
teeth or phosphorescent organs. others became
bottomliying and partly or completely lost their
eyes Still others developed loag feeers for
cropping their way through the darkness Now
and again. however. fishes of separate groups
developed similar structures. so that there are
many striking among deep.sea fishes OF
what the biologist calls conveyance" or paral
lelism.
The museum has recently prepared for exhi.
hition number Of typical deepsea fishes ar.
ranged in the form Of group The preparation
OF this exhibit involved many technical dificul.
ties. such as the modelling Of the fishes In trans
parent or translucent media. to represent then,
as glimmerng or shining with lit.up "portholes."
Considerable experimenting was necessary to