Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1876 — Something About Fishes. [ARTICLE]

Something About Fishes.

Mart of tho methods wbieh man has found most effective in hnoMug, or In that inhuman Occupation— war—are employed W fishes. There is scarcely a sport which men practice, or a weapon of offense which they use, to which they do not present a parallel. Mr. Francis, in Fraur'»Mugaairu, gives many instances in illustration of this fact, from which the following are taken: Dangers, speara and swords are all pos sosseaoy fishes in a very high state of natural perfection, and even guhs arerepresented among them. The Choetodon, a fish which is found in the eastern seas from Ceylon to Japan has the power of propelling a small drop of water, with considerable accuracy and force through its nose, which is a kind of beak. With this missile it kills the insects which constitute its food.

There are also fishes which fish for their game with a rod, line and bait, as skillfully as any angler. ' The fishing-frog is sometimes five or six feet in length, has a huge head and mouth, snd is provided with large sacs attached to its gill-oovers, In which its stows its victims. It is an indifferent swimmer and is too clumsy to support existence by the fleetneas of its motions. Two long prongs spring from the creature’s nose, which taper away like fishing rods. To the ends of these is at tached, by slender threads, a glittering morsel of membrane, which is the bait. The Lophius conceals himself by stirring up the mud on the bottom with his fins and tail. He waves the bait to and fro, so that it appears like a living insect glancing through the water, and, when the prey are attracted, he rises suddenly, seizes them, and deposits them in his bagnet, where they remain, to be transferred to his stomach at leisure. There are also fish which hunt their prey singly or in pairs, or even in packs, like hounds. Porpoises have been seen driving sand-eels together, gradually surrounding them, ana then, making a dash at them, devouring a dozen at a mouthful. The pike and trout are examples of fish which hunt their prey singly; and the way in which one of these will course and run down a smaller fish resembles nothing so much as a greyhound coursing a hare. Of fish which hunt their food like dogs or wolves in packs, the Bonito, which chases the flying fish, is an instance; and one, perhaps, of the fiercest, most sayage and resolute of these is the Prirai of South America. The Prirai has a fighting-look-ing kind of nose and a cold, cruel eye. The jaw is square, powerful and, for the size oi the fish, locked into a very large head. Although the creature is onlv about sixteen inches long, it has teetli nearly as large as those of a shark. Tbeso fish abound in all the rivers of Guiana. They are very voracious, and there is scarcely any animal which they will not attack. .

Some fish employ others to hunt their prey for them. There is, for instance, the little Pilot-fish, which leads the shark to his prey. This has been disputed, but it appears, in some cases, to be beyond doubt. Probably the Pilot-fish accompanies the shark, principally for protection, and is on the lookout for Its own dinner. Many weapons of offense and defense are possessed by fishes. Tlje sword is represented by the blade of the swordfish. This fish possesses a tremendously powerful weapon, backed as it is by the great weight and impetus which it can bring to bear on its thrusts. Akin to the sword-fish in its offensive capabilities are the saw-fishes. Though their weapons resemble rather sueh as are used by certain savage tribes than civilized saws, yet they are terrible weapons, and the Indians who edge their spears with sharks’ teeth, almost reproduce the weapon of the saw-fish. The weapon of the narwhal, which is found chiefly in the Arctic seas, is a very complete and efficient spear, composed of the hardest ivory, ana tapering gradually to a point. Of daggers, there are many specimens, more particularly among the family of fiaudtß; and fearful weapons they are, some of them being serrated and barbed, and capable of inflicting terrible wounds. Many other fish are furnished.with spines, either upon the fins or as horns, or in sharp projections from the gill-covers. Perhaps one of the most formidable weapons possessed by any fish is the natural pair of shears formed by the jaws of the shark. The only similar Weapon of offense that can be cited, as used by man, would, perhaps, be»the spiked portcullis. The knout also has a rival in the tail oi the thresher or fox-shark. The upper lobe is nearly as long as the body of the fish and very muscular. It is curved like the blade of a scythe in shape, and the blows which it inflicts with this living flail can be heard at a great distance. The lasso is represented m the loot of the crephalopod, to which nature has also furnished another curious weapon of defense in the shape of a bag of black fluid commonly termed the ink-bag. The cuttie, when closely pursued, sends out a cloud of this substance to hide him from view.