The Arvada enterprise. (Arvada, Colo.) 1908-1970, 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 deepsea expeditions favorable
sons. as for instance, dark calm night. fishes
that have been brought to the surface and placed
In water were to fash light from the ends
OF the tentaces the hosphorescent pores.
precisely should have expected from a
study OF these organs. Major Alcock in his
interesting volume. "A Naturalist In Indian
Seas. mentions specimen brought up from
profound depth which "glimmered like a ghost
as II lay dead at the bottom OF the pail Of tur.
bid seawater." So that by Inference as well as
by actual observation we must believe that what
we call luminous organs in deep.sca 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 antennaelikc feelers. modified from fin
rays. that these fishes can feel their way.
as 1t were. through the darkness.
The absence Of light. however, entails another
important consequence. AS is well known,
plant life can exist in darkness. There is there.
fore no vegetation of any kind in the profound
depths Of the The deepsea fishes are. in
consequence. all carnivorous. the more powerful
ones Selling and devourng the weaker ones It
is cold black world where might regns
premc Many have enormous mouths and for.
midabe teeth to insure holding the prey. In
some forms the teeth are so large that the mouth
cannot be shut,
depths of the sea. is always low and the
freezing point This Ia true everywhere.
at the equator. Undoubtedly this has an effect
upon the fishes although It is not yet known
what It is. The amount of oxygen dissolved In
the water also. is much less than in water nearer
the surface. The breathing apparatus OF the
deep sea fishes is modified to suit their peculiar
conditions The gill hlaments have become much
reduced In size, and in number Of instances
some Of the gill arches bear no gill hlarnents at
all The fishes 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 all
representatives Of single family group that
has become specially adapted to life in the deep
sea. dc they belong to different families or
groups? One need hardly be an chthyologist
to answer this question. Even a cursory exam.
nation of the plates In work on decpsca
fishes will show that different types are repre-.
scented In fact. great many families are In.
cuded in the d""pFca fauna. There are sharks
and rays. salmonods. horriuCs. p.rches cells
and representatives of many other families. We
can explain this hctorogrncity among them IN
this way We may imaEin" that fishes OF many
different kinds In their search, so to speak for
the unoccuried corners of the soa. found n 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
N''ns II 'nang' III NhnlS thRlle place nnri nassu
with the changes In structure. Having started
out with different organizations. and possessing
different degrees OF variability, they became dlf.
Formulated in diverse directions so that while
some developed enormous mouths powerful
teeth or phosphorescont organs others became
bottom living and partly or completely lost their
eyes Still others developed loag rcolers for
cropping their way through the darkness Now
and again. however. fishes OF separate groups
developed similar structures that there are
many striking cases among dccpsca fishes OF
what the biologist calls conveyance" or paral.
losm.
The museum has recently prepared for exhi.
btion n number OF typical decp.sca fishes ar.
ranged IN the form OF group The preparation
OF this exhibit involved many technical dificul.
ties. such as the modelling OF tho fishes In trans.
parent or Translucent, media. to represent them
ms gimmcring or shining With lItup portfolios"
Considerable experimenting was necessary to