The Idaho Springs siftings-news. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1905-19??, 1915-10-01


Several hundred kinds of deep-sea fishes had
been collected-some of them dredged from
depth of more than 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; it opened new chapter in the his
tory OF the science
Since that time many deep-sea exploring ex
petitions have been sent out by the various ma
lions. 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 its full value
the richness and strangeness Of this fauna
Moreover, not only do we know the fishes them
selves. but as result of the scientific investi-
cations carried by the various expeditions.
we now know a good deal of the physical con-
ditions under which they live. so that we can. in
q measure at least. explain the why and where
fore of their extraordinary characteristics.
When we think of life in the dee2-sea, there
comes to mind. first Of all, the enormous pres
sure which these creatures must Withstand
This pressure becomes the greater the deeper we
go down. and in the profoundest depths 1t equals
thousands of pounds to the square inch. The
result of this is that the tissues OF these
fishes tender and loosely knitted together
When they brought up opt 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 viscera through the mouth, while the mus
cles collapse, leaving them soft and nabby IKE
moist rags Most deepsea fishes are very small
Also usually only a few inches In length and 1t
IL 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 dimness OF
light, or even darkness in the profound depths
of the sea- II imagine ourselves descend
Ing into the deep ocean, the light grow
DINNER and DINNER as we go down. until nnaily
a level is reached beyond which no light pene
trates at all The entire vast depth below IT, 10
in eternal, darkness Now the fishes living In
this dim light or in total darkness have been
profoundly modified by 1t. In some forms tho
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
he 40 that these fishes are as has been aptly
said blind beyond redemption Other lorms
on the other hand. have been affected IN an
entirely different way The eyes, instead Oh
growing smaller have grown larger, as II In an
attempt to catch every feetng ray OF light In
.ome fishes this has been carried 30 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 tneir
own light about with them In some the entire
hodv 1limmers the coating OF slime which
exudes from the pores and lateral Canals emit
ting a soft silvery glow. In others rows o. mr
mite luminous organs run along inc sioes Vi tno
body or there are flashing ligntspo's on 'ne
n ma 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
daensea fishes have a luminous organ at the
end of a feeler on the head
pertinent question may be asked: now uo
NO know these fishes glow and glimmer since
NO human eye has ever beheld them IN tne,r
.hvsaal home? We know this partly from ahar
-. .nd nartly from actual observation When
one IA in a boat in the tropics, on one OF those
sultry nights when everything is a dead CAIN,
and the black clouds hang so low that SKY ana
20. form one continuous blackness tnen one
..a.+be plimmering fishes darling out OF the
nstb Of the boat their forms. silvery and ghost
M. ou.i,red for one moment against the black
ness of the sea. This effect is chieny Que 70
10 o1idizing of the Shiny secretion covering
IL, hod,es WIN shall we not believe. then.
that in deep-sea fishes a similar phenomenon
taLas Mace. particularly az in many OF them