The Raymer enterprise., 1915-09-30


Several hundred kinds Of deepsea fishes had
been collected-some OF them dredged from
depth of more than a mile-and 1t required
huge quarto to describe and picture them. From
this volume dates our real knowledge OF the
fishes OF the abyssal deep The Challenger
expedition was inded. Columbus voyage" in
ichthyology; Il opened new chapter in the his
tory OF the science.
Since that time many deepsea exploring ex-
peditons have been sent out by the various ma.
tons, and hosts OF other fishes have been
brought. up from the oceans in all parts OF the
world More than Thousand species are now
known. and we can appreciate at It's full value
the richness and strangeness Of this fauna.
Moreover not only do we know the fishes them
selves but as Il result OF the scientific inyesti.
cations carried on by the various expeditions.
know a good deal OF the physical con.
dltions under which they live. so that we can In
a measure at least. explain the why and where.
fore OF their extraordinary characteristics.
When we think OF life 10 the dee2sea, there
comes to mind. first OF all the enormous pres
sure which these creatures must withstand,
This pressure becomes the greater the deeper we
20 down and in the profoundest depths II equals
thousands Of pounds to the square inch The
result Of this pressure is that the tissues Of these
When they arc brought up ont OF the dark
depths and the great pressure under which they
live is removed the explosion of the gases with
in them bulges out the eyes. and often blows out
the yisrera through the mouth while the mus
cles collapse leaving them soft and habby like
moist rags Most deepsea fishes are very small
also usually only few inches In length, and II
Is probable that this reduction In size has come
about to some extent at least, from the great
pressure under which they live.
Another important condition is the dlmness OF
light or even darkness In the profound depths
of the sea II we imagine ourselves descend
ing into the deep ocean, We see the light grow
DINNER and DINNER az we go down until finally
a level is reached beyond which no light pene-
trates at all The entire vast depth below It, Is
in eternal darkness Now the fishes living In
this dim light. or In total darkness. have been
profoundly modified by It, In some forms the
eyes have become very small. and In some cases
have entirely disappeared There are even fishes
In which the skin and scales of the body have
grown over the place where the eyes should
be. so that these fishes are. as has been aptly
said blind beyond redemption" Other forms,
on the other hand. have been affected In an
entirely different way. The eyes. instead OF
growing smaller. have grown larger as II in an
attempt to catch every heetng ray OF light. In
some fishes this has been carried so far that the
eyes have become like enormous goggles
Most deep sea fishes have luminous organs OF
one kind or another. so that they carry their
own light about with them In some the entire
body glimmers, the coating OF slime which
oxudes from the pores and lateral canals. emit.
ting soft silvery glow In others rows Of mi
mute luminous organs run along the sides OF the
body, or there are flashing lghtspots on the
head or face What wonderful sight would be
10 us a small black fish fitting through the 81.
Ience and darkness OF the deep with Its head
lights and row OF pores cleaning through the
darkness like some small ship passing through
the night with its portfolios all aglow! Some
deep.sea fishes have a luminous organ at the
end OF a feeler on the head.
A pertinent question may be asked: How do
we know these fishes glow and glimmer, since
no human eye has ever beheld them in their
abyssal home' We know this partly from anal.
ogy and partly from actual observation When
one is In q boat In the tropics on one OF those
suItry nights when everything is dead calm,
and the black clouds hang so low that sky and
sea form one continuous backness. then one
may see the glimmerng fishes dartng out OF the
path of the boat their FORMS silvery and ghost.
like, outlined for one moment against the black.
meas OF the sea. This effect Is chiefly due to
the oxidizing OF the Shiny secretion covering
their bodies Why shall we not believe. then.
that In deep-sea fishes a similar phenomenon
..tas ,lace narttcularly as In many OF them