NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20112, 24 November 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

A STRANGE FISH.

BZ 3. DRUMMOND, T.L.S., r.Z.S.

A queer fish was seen hiding in a bunch of seaweed at Opua, Bay of Islands. Later it was caught iu a net by Mr. G. "Cross. Sent to tho Auckland Museum, it was identified by Mr. L. T. Griffin, assistant curator, as tho striped angler. It has never before been recorded in New Zealand. Most of tho anglers live in tropical seas. They are poor swimmers, but some of them like to rest on floating seaweed, and are carried hither and thither by tho ocean currents. The greyish-brown body of tho striped angler is streaked with dark brown bars of different shapes and sizes. It has swollen cheeks, a wide and spacious stomach,. breast' fins that look like withered arms, and, springing i'rom tho tip of the snout, a bulb-like process, ending in three flaps, whose margins a,re cut into tiny scallops, liko a leaf or a shell.

The striped angler, probably, has tiro same habits as other members of its large and diversified tribe. They are distinguished by having a line and a bait, which give them their popular title. This fishing-tackle sticks out abova the head like tho striped angler's remarkable process. It is believed that an angler, lying in wait for prey, tries to attract it by moving the skinny flap at tho end of its line. If this is tho object of tho process, and if a fish is attracted to tho angler, its chance of escape is small. Tho angler is a voracious glutton. Rows of sharp teeth arm its jaws. These lie flat, with their points directed inwards when food enters the mouth. If a captive tries to move out tho teeth become erect, and prevent escape. Losing patience when there is poor fishing, an angler goes in search of food. It has been known to seize birds from below as they float on the water. The bulldog's proverbial tenacity seems to bo at least equalled by the angler's tenacity. What it has it holds. , A piece of a plank was thrust into tho mouth of an angler, which held fast and was dragged out of the water This may not have been determination, but, on account of the arrangement of the teeth, sheer inability to let go.

The marbled angler of the Sargasso Sea, probably the striped angler also, uses its large arm-like fins to rest on masses of -"sea-weed. It makes a wonderful nest in the masses of sargassum, suspending the structure by silky fibres, strong enough to support bunches of eggs that hang like clusters of grapes. Near the coasts of the Old Country there is an angler of a different species from the one found at the Bay of Islands, and much larger. It is so remarkable in appearance and habits that a fairly large literature has • been established on it. Among its other names are fishing-frog, frog-fish, and sea-devil. The last name, apparently, originated in a belief that it is a type of ridiculous images of demons and hobgoblins.

Living in the ocean's depths there is a, black angler, only 2in. long. Its fishingline terminates in ? bulb, which may be lighted ujj by the angler, presumably to attract in the darkness other fißhes fit for, food. It looks as if it is made mostly of jaws and stomach, but so distensible is its stomach that it can take and hold inside any fish not too large to be seized. One had in its 6tomach the remains of a fish twice its own length. The inconvenience caused by this hea,vy meal was so slight that the black angier took a bait offered to it, and was caught. Another black angler caught in the depths a fish many times its own weight. Seized by the tail, the captive in its efforts to escape carried its captor up toward tho surface. The angler, on account of its teeth, could not xeleasa its; victim, but had to continue swallowing. It was found on tho surface, gorged, but exhausted by the struggle.

Among the seventy species of ichneumon flies in New Zealand there is one that acts the parasite o® the caterpillar of a inolh which makes galls oil. the muhlenbeckia shrub. In summer months Mr. E. S. Gourlay, of tho Cawthron Institute, Nelson, has seen many of these ichneumons flying about the shrubs and examining the galls. Investigation has shown that tho ichneumons are seeking a small round part of the caterpillar's skin that covers the hole from which the perfect moth escapes out of the husk of its early stages of life. The ichneumon places an egg into tho hole. Completing its metamorphosis inside tho new ichneumon spins a rough, dark-brown, cylindrical cocoon in the gall, and the perfect ichneumon escapes by the exit kindly provided by the moth. Tho galls often are used by other insects in the same way. Among theso are the grubs of a peculiar beetle. The galls' occasionally are occupied by wolf-spiders.

" A few chains from my liouso I have found a New Zealand orchid, Earina suaveolens, tho fragrant Earina, in bloom at the end of March," Mrs. K. R. Nilson writes from Piopio, King Country. " Covering a space 2ft. long, it bloomed on a branch of tho whitty-wood, malice. The perfume from tho flowers uas strong and sweet, and they were wax-like and of rare beauty. Near them, on tho branch of another tree, was a beautiful white rata. Handsomer still is tho flovrery rata. It blooms in many parts of the King Country on its vine, which climbs tho trees. Thero is much to interest naturalists here, in addition to tho native flowers. Tho limestone rocks and caves aro very wonderful, and the native birds arc charming. The shining cuckoo usually arrives from September 27 to September 29. Tuis como within' a few yarns of my tennis lawn, and, perching on tho tree tops, sing most sweetly. In 1919 wo found freshly-laid eggs of n song-thrush in Juno. In the primary schools children should be taught tho Maori and tho botanical! names "of our glorious native trees and shrubs. When they see tho ramarama they havo no idea liiat its botanical name means embossed myrtle and that it has tho prettiest flower on "earth."

On November 12 Mr. Cook, driver of a service car between Christchurch and Kaikoura, caught a shining cuckoo at ArnbprIcy. Ho is fond of native birds, and knows their calls, and ho attracted that cuckoo,by imitating its whistle. Placing it in a cardboard box, ho took it in the car (o Mr. P. 11. Hamilton at the Lyttelton Times office. Mr. Hamilton took the pretty little captive to his father's residence at Redcliffs, and there liberated it among jjative trees. For three weeks another shining cuckoo had been in the garden. It is hoped that tho two interesting visitors will become mates. In tho last week in October, at 9 p.m., a shining cuckoo appeared in a nativo tree close to tho bedroom window of Mr. R. Darrow, proprietor of tho Springs Hotel, Wai* ngaro, near Glen Afton. To Mr. Darrow's surpriso it sent forth its notes. It repeated thorn at intervals throughout tho night. At daylight it was still there, but disappeared when Mr. Darrow approached. Its first reappearance was on November 8, but on that occasion it was during the day. Mr. Darrow asks: " Does tho shining cuckoo usually hold forth at night ? I nave lived herci for moro than six years, and this is the first, time I have heard it at night, and bo consistently, too."