Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-06-09
By w. III. Ballou, Sc. D.

By w. H. Ballou, Sc. D.
@ CHEMISTS connected
!
with the United States @A
Government have 70. &@
Gently discovered many <~~fssE
remarkable specimens OF asEssss1ssssss
deep sea fishes-creatures X3E&X839
which, though they exist L4EB 81 81,
to-day, appear almost in MYN SSl3
credibly grotesque and I'M EH& III vi
natural The most inter- ~ ~ IL
esting new specimens VI "
have been found IN the
Pacific Ocean.
Science explains that
they are go strange and
terrible because they are
survivals OF an earlier age
ST the worlds development,
hundreds OF thousands of years before
man appeared on earth, who took refuge
in the black, cold depths OF the sea and
now linger there still, while nearly all
other living things have changed Carntv-
orous, ferocious. formed OF tissues that
explode on exposure to tho mir, gifted
with abnormal eyes or totally blind, they
seem like nightmare creations.
The latest knowledge we possess con-
corning the strange monsters taken out
OF the depths of the Pacific, IS largely the
work Of DR.. Hugh Nj. Smith, Director OF
the Bureua Of Fisheries, Washington. One
OF the most remarkable Is the trap mouth
I fish, which appears to have borrowed most
/ Of its characteristics from the huge land
= snakes. 1t inhabits depths extending from
500 feet downward in the Pacific. It's
head is nearly as long as Its body. The
mouth Is cavernous, very elastic, forming
trap into which its prey may enter vol
UNFAIRLY and unsuspiciously or he seized
when near. It's front teeth are long, with
large hinges, like hooks, capable OF being
swung back and forth like crane. Be-
hind these arc lateral teeth. When the
prey is seized by the front teeth, tho
crane swings and the victim is passed
backward to the back teeth and drawn
into the stomach, the process OF swallow
ing being similar to that of land serpents.
The jaws and head are SO elastic that
prey much larger than the fish can readily
be swallowed. Doubtless. also, this appa-
ratus, because Of the hinges. may enable
the fish to reverse the process and throw
out any object which 1t desires to be rid
Of
In the rootsof the mouth Is what CORE
spends almost exactly to an electric light
bulb. The rays Of light from this CLEAN
through the wide spaces between the
long front teeth, so that the monster can
see perfectly his prey and direct his ac-
ton accordingly. This bright light also
acts as lure. like the lantern of light
house 10 birds ON dark night, drawing
them TO destruction.
Tho camera eye fish, found Mt 1900
feet depth, is we'll named. since no known
eye so nearly resembles a camera The
eye is equipped with a lens and reflectors.
not to take photographs with but TO enable
the monster to peer into the darkest depths
and search out prey, which is much magni-
ned by this apparatus. The eye Is large.
taking up much space IN tho short head,
which is inclined upward and outward with
prominent forehead III front OF il. In fact
ha /.
content himself with small prey, as there Is
not room for the large Jaws, long teeth and
elastic mouth which would be needed fer
swallowing creatures larger than himself.
Most surprising were the forms OF some
OF the sharks taken al great depths. They
differ greatly from the man eaters NO
know. OF these the "pentanchid shark" is
so remarkable that scientists have called 1t
a living fossil Had 1t been taken from
the archaic rocks III petrifed form. il might
have been passed merely as a type OF very
primitive monster. Here We have fish
that has survived most OF the commissions
and changes CT the earth during the ages
Professor II. +. Osborn estimates that the
oceans have been 100 600 900 years In form
ing, and that To give them their present
quota OF salts. they have received 63 900
600 tons OF sodium annually, borne to them
by the rivers o; the earth.
We must imagine this sharks ancestora
then, a beginning their existence in nearly
fresh water His descendants survived
somehow as their element became more
and more salty. unit! today he Is ENABLED
to endure the conditions OF modern seas
In proof OF Its archaic type is the fact tina
it liz the only known shark, living or tx
tinct, with only five branchial openings. O.
gills. It's haunts range half mile belov
the surface. It's body is long and slender
with a straight tail. long. fiat snou,, cree
teeth in both jaws. very powerful for snan
ping prey. the mouth extends almost en-
tirely across the under side, capable CT de