Evening star., 1954-01-20
Song Of Grooming Fish
Is Recorded in CeyIon
Arios Louder at Night
When the Moon Is Full
By Thomos R. Henry


When the Moon Is Full
By Thomas z. Henry
There may be fish that actually
sings-that is, utters melodious sounds
with perceptible rhythm or beat
which can be expressed in simple musi-
cal notation.
This singing fish," which nobody
actually has seen to identify. is one of
the curioSities always called to the
attention of tourists in the Batticoloa
Province of Eastern Ceylon. It fire.
quentS only one deep lagoon. It can
be heard only at night, preferably at
full moon, when the water is calm.
Moonlight seems to draw the organism
responsible for the sound closer to the
surface. On dark. calm nights the
music can still be heard. but it seems
to be coming from greater depths.
Accounts of the underwater singing,
at least, are true, according to the Rev.
j. w. Lange, Jesuit priest in Batticoloa,
who has tried for several years to de-
termine what sort of organism Is re-
sponsible. That fish make various
sounds now is well known. This was
conclusively demonstrated by United
States Navy investigators during the
war. They determined the character
istic sounds made by a large number
of sea creatures whose chatter" was
interfering with underwater sound de-
vices. Father Lange has consulted
Navy authorities and Navy publica-
tions, but he can get track of nothing
that remotely resembles the singing"
heard in the Ceylon lagoon. He has
just described his researches in re-
port to the Ceylon Natural History
Society.
Sounds Recorded.
It is certain. he says, that the sounds
are made by something under the
water. They are heard. best when the
head is held under water. He lowered
a hydrophone attached to an amplif1er
into the lagoon and by this means was
able to obtain a record of the sounds.
From this record friend familiar with
writing music was able to put them on
paper. Curiously enough, no supersti-
ton ever has been attached to the sing
ing. Natives believe, however, that the
singers are some sort of shell fish. The
only shelled animals he has been able
to obtain from the lagoon. however. are
oysters. 1t is somewhat difficult, Father
Lange submits, to accept the idea Of
singing oysters.
He has hooked what he believes to be
n representative collection of the la
goon's fish life. Several species made
definite sounds. One, weighing about
10 pounds, gives out a prolonged
"honk." A much smaller one gives a
louder "honk." Another large black
fish with yellow belly and four whisk-
ers on each side of its face makes
sounds like baby's fretful crying. A
small. yellow-black fish makes an angry
cound by gnaShing its teeth.
Tinkling Sounds.
There is curious little scaleless fish
.ound in schools of 100 or more. AS
such school swifns through the water
1t produces chorus of tiny. tinkling
sounds. A phosphorescent light comes
from inside the throats of these fishes.
A large. chocolate-col fish that is
found 10 feet deep among the rocks
makes sound like the distant echo
0f large firecracker."
But Father Lange has not caught
any creature which can be identified
With the singing fish. 1t has been suc
gested, he says, that the singer is a
frog. He believes this is impossible. for
no frog can make a sound under water.
The singing might conceivably be made
oy movement Of the water through the
rocks-but 1t is most apparent when
the water is motionless.
GrasShopper glaciers" great masses
II Ice with layers of dead grasshoppers.
are among Americas natural curiosities.
They are described in the annual re-
1ort of the Smithsonian Institution bv
DR.. Ashley B. Curney of the Department
Of Agriculture.
The layers, he believes, may be rem
nants OF vast grasshopper flights, parts
OF migrations recurring at irregular
intervals over several centuries
The most notable of these glaciers is
located in the Beartooth Mountains of
Montana. close to the northeastern
corner OF Yellowstone National Park.
IL Is difficult to reach and has been
visited by few scientists, although the
recurrent layers Of dead insects may
throw light on the prehistoric habits of
some OF the country's worst grasshopper
pests
Theories Explained.
All the frozen insects identified are
OF the Rocky Mountain grasshopper
species, which spread devastation in the
wake OF tremendous migratory fights
in the 1870s and 1880s, mainly in the
Great Plains and Rocky Mountain
States. 1t is believed that great hordes
OF these grasshoppers either flew over
the glacier or were carried there by
winds, and that while they were there
sudden snow storms or cold air from the
ice fields caused them to drop. Some
are imbedded and frozen so quickly that
they remain perfectly preserved until
melting occurs, perhaps centuries later.
Living specimens were found on the
ice OF this glacier in 1949, apparently
soon after they alighted and before
embedding or decomposition took place.
They proved to be members of q grass
hopper species then migrating through
range lands in Nevada and Oregon. The
upward connective currents which
occasionally carry dust for hundreds of
miles at times are important in the
widespread movements of insect pests
Grasshoppers recently chopped from
the ice of this glacier have been
subjected to the radioactive carbon
test for age determination but results
have been indefinite. The tests reveal
only that the Oldest specimens eX-
amined have been in the ice less than