Luminous Fish

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 286, 3 December 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

Luminous Fish

Deep below 111< • sea surface a lijjht a|p |mm |<-; it is followed by a ti-h with <l broad streatuliiied lace and the water round ;i limit is lit up as liy tiny fairy lights. The li;;hf tliiirs made comes frmn a i t-cii lish with a lmi;r name, which really means "a flashing lij-lit mi the how." And this is a \ery prood name for the creature! I\\cept fur the very hlnnt llii'c and larjie. (hit. prut rndinir underltp, the fish is very much like other ordinary tish in outward appearance; lint it has the additional power of showing 1 i^ht. A luminous substance located between the evert scuds out a bright Ibishin;.' ylcatn. Hut there are still other effect~. Down the middle of each side of its body, the !i~]i has a row of small, rounded plates which all y|o\v with iuiniumis brightness. Still other "fairy lights" are scattered in graceful lines and cur* os o*er the rest of the creature's body. This deep-sea fish 'was first discovered in tropical waters, jibmit 1 lI.IMHIft deep, by investigators oil the Albatross. ji United States steamer. The tish. when caught, displayed its beautiful luminous clow, so we know that tin 1 li'jhts must show up brightly in the murky deeps of the sea. Another luminous fish is nilieli different in appearance. It has two lines of bright lights running each side of its body. This creature is jet hlack iji colour and somewhat eel shaped ill body; a lon ji tentacle, something like a straightened butterfly's antenna, hand's downward with a tuft on the end of it into the water from the creature's lower jaw. This tish lias ijharp teeth and has a. rather tierce expression. Moreover, it is \ery swift in its water iiinveinent s> and easily captures its food. Another variety of the luminous fish family has a bright bulb at the end of a lull;' line belli above the creature's body art bait ! Such a fish is called jtu anulcrtisli. The bait uleams brightly in the dark, deep water ami attracts other smaller tish. which are then captured. Hut the most ama/in.L' fact about this verv strange fish is that the mother fish may In- one thousand times larger than the father! A captured mother anglerfish has measured :!ft ill length, but the attached father fish was only tin Ion;;.

'I In' lather anglcr-lish alwa\s attache* 11 i 111 -<* I f tn tin' it 11 >t In-r right from the tiny stage* ot its growth—and there lie remains all liis life! Although deep-sea fish <>f tlii' liiminmis variety glow brightly in water, they < 11> ii<it a |i|ia rent I v Ui-e t lie light as u lani|i through tin" darkness—though the In igiit must Ik- considerable from siiinc varieties. It is very probably used mainly as a fund lure. ( i't aniitln'r liimiinnis fish is long. eellike and almost t ran-parent. Other* lia\c peculiar and sometimes very strange ami grot csi|iic form*. They have lira d lla |>.s. large .u. i(> ill lT mouths, large 11u IL!illir i'\cr- ami \aricd strange tail tins. All (it t lii'in have a certain arrangcnieiit nt' blight litmiiiiiiis glow-points over their Irodii's. according to the particular variety of spccic,-. I'ut only a small lliinitivr of deep -c:i fish have yet been brought np to tin- surface. Many fMi. no iloiilit. -till remain in the dark, deep waters with even more strange form* than those we already know. Truly, the seas contain many marvels yet tin k ninvn. TOPS ARE IMPORTANT! Tops are more important than we in ijjlit think. They are one of the oldest of pastimes, for even boys and girls (>ot) years aero enjoyed spinning tops, and before that Roman children had tops, and <! recks had whipping tops or pep tops, as well as humming-tops. lint the importance of tops is not measured by their age. Xoiv, the idea has been used in a very different way. The popular toy known as the gyroscopic top lias been converted by scientists and inventors into a wonderfill instrument. The gyroscope is used in astronomy, and installed in liners and battleships and aeroplanes, so that captains on the bridges of ships and pilots in the cockpits of planes are aided in steering a true course around the world, which is itself a big top spinning through space. And without doubt science in the futitre Mill find even more uses for the gyroscope, helping us to keep instruments trained on any point in the Ilea vens.