1 8o ] Fish and Their Fabulous Neighbors 



leaving the ocean for fresh water, they travel from ponds and lakes 

 down rivers to the depths of the ocean and there the females 

 eject their eggs. 



The two species of eel one European, the other American that 

 spawn in the same area in the Atlantic, travel in opposite direc- 

 tions. The young whose parents come from American rivers take 

 about a year to travel from their ocean breeding place to this 

 continent; the offspring of European species take three years to 

 reach their destination in Europe. 



In the course of its travels the eel has a notable advantage over 

 most fish. It has specialized gills that can store a certain amount 

 of water. This makes it possible for the eel to leave a stream or 

 pond and wriggle over land to another body of water some 

 distance away. 



Fish That Are Different 



THE FISH THAT WALKS 



The fish family has its share of fantastic creatures. In some 

 ways their real-life qualities are more amazing than those of 

 mythological monsters of legend and myth. The climbing perch 

 is the commonest of these belie ve-it-or-not fish. It can survive 

 out of water for several days, and its pectoral fins are strong 

 enough to support its body by acting as legs! This perch may be 

 said to walk rather than wriggle, and it has been found on low 

 tree trunks. 



"FLYING" FISH 



Perhaps more generally known than the walking fishes are 

 those that leave the water and glide above its surface. If you travel 

 in tropical waters, such as those around Bermuda or the West 

 Indies, you frequently see some of these gliders in action. Most 

 expert of the group, the "flying fish" travel through the air about 

 three feet above the water at forty miles an hour, and may go as 

 much as four hundred yards at a stretch. All the "flying fish" 

 they glide rather than fly live in the ocean, with the exception 

 of one little "butterfly" fish of Africa which makes brief excur- 

 sions over its fresh-water home. 



