THE MYSTERIOUS FROSTFISH.

Evening Star, Issue 14688, 4 October 1911, Page 10

THE MYSTERIOUS FROSTFISH.

THE MYSTERIOUS FROSTFISH; Do you- know the frostfieh ? On the frosty mornings ■of winter he may be picked up on Aloeraki beach—a ribbonshaped fish, esteemed a great delicacy-. He has never been , netted or caught with a line, and the phenomenon of his fate L not, apparently, explained by science. Dr Alakolm,, in a lecture to the Otago Institute last night on ‘ The Food Value ol the Pi'ostfish,’ did not attempt an explanation, but as soon as he had completed his remarks the curiosity of his hearers to learn the cause of this .shy deep-water fish’s appearance was voiced by Dr Fulton, and Dr Denham gratified the audience with a theory. He said that this fish, like all deepwater fish, had to submit to a tremendous preeeuro from the water above him. If be rose, the pressure was reduced, and the gases in his system, ’released from the pressure, expanded, and the fish becameso light that he might not be able to cef back to his normal depth. In a word, “he sinks ‘upwards, and cannot recover himself.” Another explanation was that- the fish was chased ashore, and the information was volunteered in support of this that when found- the tail was sometimes eaten, as if some enemy had made a greedy snap at his escaping quarry. ' There were other curious facts elicited—that, for example, the fish is usually washed ashore in a vertical position, head; up and tail clown ; but none of them explained the appearance of the fish, in frosty weather only.