Some remarkable fishes, which were called by Linnaeus chaetodon, from the long slender and hair-like character of their teeth, are natives of the seas within the torrid zone, and they are remarkable for the brilliant colours which nature has bestowed on them with the most lavish hand: deep purple, brilliant rose-colour, azure blue, and the darkest velvet black, all combine to render these fishes almost too resplendent for the eye to rest upon them without pain. Some of them which frequent the shores of the islands in the Indian Seas, "being of moderate size, haunt habitually the rocky shores at no great depth of water, and are seen sporting in the sunbeams as if desirous to exhibit their splendid liveries to the greatest advantage in the blaze of day." Some of them are marked with black velvet-like bands, and one of these, the platax, has these bands carried across its vertical fins, which are more than twice as high as the fish is long.
Image
The most curious fish belonging to this division is, however, the shooting chelmon (Chelmon rostratus). This is a small fish, only about six or eight inches long, which feeds on flies and other winged insects, and when it perceives one of these either hovering over the surface of the water or settled on a twig or blade of grass, it ejects against it, with considerable force, a drop of liquid from its tubular snout, which is very long and slender, so as to stun the insect, which generally drops within reach of the fish. When shooting at a sitting insect, the chelmon generally approaches cautiously within a few feet before it explodes the water. In a state of nature, this curious fish is found both on the sea coast and in the rivers of Java; and it is said to be an amusement of the Chinese in that island "to keep the chelmon in confinement in a large vessel of water with a view to observe its dexterity in the practice of its admirable instinct. The Chinese fasten a fly or other insect to the side of the vessel, when the chelmon immediately bombards it with such precision as very rarely to miss the mark." Another species of the same genus, but with a still longer snout, and a Javanese fish, called Toxotes, possess the same power. The latter fish is not so curiously shaped as most of the others which delight in shooting; and, indeed, has very little to distinguish it from ordinary fish. It has, however, the scaly fins belonging to the family, and when provoked it has the power of raising an additional fin on the back, which consists of four strong spines, and will inflict a dangerous wound. This fish does not content itself with shooting a single drop of water at the insects on which it wishes to prey, but it overpowers them by a complete shower of drops.
The vlagman, or flagman, is another extraordinary fish belonging to this division, which is nearly as broad as it is long, and which receives its name from an amazingly long spine at the top of the back, which is almost like a narrow flag or streamer.
The buffalo fish, which has sharp recurved horns, and a very singular protuberance above its head, is also as broad as it is long, as is the zanclus. This last fish, "on account probably of its singular form and horned front, has become an object of almost superstitious reverence among the fishermen of the Moluccas. It is alleged, that when they happen to capture one of this species, they immediately salute it by certain genuflexions, and then cast it into the sea." It is, however, an excellent table fish, as it attains a weight of fifteen pounds, and resembles the turbot in flavour.
The sword-fish has nothing extraordinary in the shape of its body, which resembles an enormous mackerel, its distinctive character lying entirely in the lengthened beak or sword-like prolongation of its upper jaw; but this beak is so strong, of such a length, and so sharp, that it forms a powerful weapon of offence, and enables the sword-fishes to attack and overcome the largest marine animals. Many stories are told of this fish; of the blows which it inflicts, and the dreadful combats which it sustains, some of which are probably exaggerated. There is, however, no doubt of its power, and Mr. Yarrell gives a quotation from an account published by the captain of a vessel bound to Memel, who states, that near the Hebrides he saw a battle between some of the fish called thrashers and some sword-fish, on one side, and an enormous whale on the other, from which it appears that the captain and his crew (the weather being fine and the water very clear) distinctly saw the sword-fish stab the whale several times in the under part of its body, till the water was quite red with its blood. Daniel, in his Rural Sports, states, that a man bathing in the Severn, near Worcester, was struck by, and actually received his death-wound from, a sword-fish. The fish was caught immediately afterwards, so that the fact was ascertained beyond a doubt. There is another and much larger sword-fish in the East Indies, which is called the fan-fish by the Malays, and the sail-fish by the Dutch, because, when swimming near the surface, its back-fin projects like a sail. The strength of these creatures is prodigious, and Sir Joseph Banks had a plank from the bottom of an East Indiaman that was pierced through by a sword-fish with such force that the snout or sword was buried in the wood almost to its base, and the animal itself was killed by the violence of the blow. There are several smaller sword-fish, but those which have been described are the most remarkable.
The scabbard-fishes are quite as singular in their way as the sword-fishes. The common scabbard-fish (Lepidopus) is generally from five to six feet long, and not above four or five inches deep. Of course, a fish so long and so narrow must have a very singular appearance. "If we figure to ourselves," says a writer on the subject, "a large and broad riband of silver, swimming with a wavy motion through the water, and casting from it in its progress the most beautiful reflections of light, we may form some notion of the general aspect of this creature in its living state." It is very seldom found on the British coast, but a specimen was taken in Salcombe harbour, in South Devon, on the 4th of June, 1808. "It was swimming with astonishing velocity, with its head above water, going, as the fisherman said, as swift as a bird; and it was killed by the blow of an oar." A specimen of the silvery hair-tail, a nearly allied species, was cast on the shore of the Moray Firth, on the 2d of November, 1810.
The dolphin of the Mediterranean (Coryphaena hippurus) differs essentially from the true dolphin (Delphinus), which has been before described. The coryphaena is supposed to be the fish alluded to, under the name of the dolphin, by the Greek and Roman poets, as it is so remarkable for the beauty of its versatile tints, that it may be regarded as one of the most brilliant inhabitants of the sea; and though it does not appear that it becomes more beautiful in dying, its brilliancy when alive is quite sufficient to have excited the imagination of the ancients. "It is necessary," observes Bose, "to have seen these fishes following a vessel in troops, to be able to form a proper estimate of their beauty. When they swim embodied near the surface, and beneath the light of a cloudless sky, they seem effulgent with the richest gold, combined with the sparkling lustre of the topaz, the emerald, and the sapphire, and every brilliant hue is in perpetual change, accordant with the vivacity and varied grace of their movements." This dolphin appears to be sometimes attacked by a parasitical crustaceous animal, from the following account given by Mr. Angas:—"Soon after crossing the line, a dolphin (Coryphaena) was killed, on which was found a new and remarkable parasite, called Penella pustulosa. It was buried in the fish near the gills, as far as the junction of the neck with the abdomen. The neck and head, which last is shaped like the hilt of a sword, are transparent, and show the red blood within. The body is of a very dark purple, studded all over with small whitish pustules. The tail is fringed, and just at the point where it is joined to the body are attached two very long slender tubes, through which the creature deposits its eggs."
Image
The tree-climbing fish is so extraordinary in its habits, that we can hardly fancy such a creature to exist. It resembles a common fish, rather thick and clumsy than otherwise, and it was first seen ascending by a fissure in the stem of a palm tree by Lieutenant Daldorff, at Tranquebar. It has since been found to belong to a family of fishes which possess the power of quitting their streams or pools, and creeping for some distance from them, which they are enabled to do by the head being formed so as to contain cells full of water. This water flows down and moistens the branchiae or gills, so that—as the principal reason that fish cannot live out of the water is, because when the gills become dry the fish can no longer breathe—these fishes continue to breathe, and, consequently, to live, till all the moisture contained in the head is exhausted. All the species belonging to this family can, accordingly, live a long time out of water; and they can creep about to a considerable distance on land, so as to move from one pond or river to another. There are several kinds of these fishes common in India, but the climbing perch (as it is called, and which has been already described,) is the only one that has been yet found attempting to mount a tree.
The spotted blenny or butterfly-fish, which is found occasionally on the coasts of Dorsetshire and Devonshire, is a curious little fish, not more than three inches long, with an immense fin along its back, spotted like a butterfly, which insect, indeed, it closely resembles when its fin is seen gleaming on the surface of the water.
SEA-WOLF.
Image
The sea-wolf, or sea-cat, is frequently found on the north coast of Britain. It is a fearful-looking creature, and its teeth are so sharp and strong, that it has been known to imprint their marks upon a bar of iron. Fearful as this creature looks, it is eaten by the Icelanders, and its skin is used for making shagreen.
The fishing-frog appears to approach very nearly to a reptile, as its side-fins are so arranged as to form a kind of arm, or rather foot, by which it can drag itself along either on shore, or in the soft mud which occasionally borders ponds and rivers. This curious fish, which is frequently found on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in most other of the European Seas, bears on its head two slender elongated appendages, one of which is broad and flattened towards the end, having at this dilated part a shining silvery appearance, and both are curiously articulated at the base, so that they can be moved about by the fish without its moving its body. As the fishing-frog has a most voracious appetite, and cannot move fast, on account of the singular form of its fins, it buries its body in the mud, leaving its curious filaments above water, where one looks like a worm and the other like some kind of butterfly, and both serve as a bait to the smaller fishes, who, venturing incautiously near them, are snapped up by the voracious jaws of the fishing-frog, who had artfully contrived this scheme to entrap them. There are several fish belonging to this family, some of which can inflate the body like a balloon, and others are furnished with fearful spines, with which they can inflict dangerous wounds. One of the latter is called the toad-fish.