56 Fish Stories 



Many deep-sea forms are modified eels. Still others are 

 derived from the anglers or fishing frogs. Some are de- 

 generate herrings, some degraded mackerels, and the large 

 group called grenadiers are modifications of codfish. A 

 few sharks and chimaeras enter the depths, as also occa- 

 sional members of several others of the various orders and 

 families of fishes. 



As the conditions of life in the depths are very uniform, 

 there is practically no difference between the deep-sea fishes 

 of the tropics and those of the north. Many species extend 

 their range unchanged over a very wide area, and yet 

 species are separated from their allies by isolation in the 

 deep seas, as elsewhere. Most of the species of the Atlantic 

 are different from those of the Pacific. Those about Hawaii 

 are different from those of Japan for the most part, and 

 those of CaHfornia and Alaska are still more different. 



Among the deep-sea fishes are many most astonishing 

 forms. Perhaps as striking as any is the great oar-fish, 

 referred to in a previous chapter. 



To the practical question as to the value of these fishes, 

 we may say: Most of them are good to eat, but their flesh 

 is watery, and without flavor. Their value to museums far 

 exceeds their value for the table, and their value to man is 

 chiefly the intellectual one of showing him to what lengths 

 Nature can go in the direction of utilization of space and 

 adaptation of forms. And the thousand illustrations of the 

 biological principles of evolution which the deep-sea fishes 

 give are worth more to man, in his intellectual and moral 

 development, and finally in the conduct of life, than would 

 be any conceivable number of fish dinners. 



Wherefore the bassalians have their place in the cosmos, 

 as clearly as the cod or the herring. 



