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Sand Fish
- University of Pittsburgh Press
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36 Sand Fish It’s said they started in beach sand, but now it’s Gobi, Sahara, Mojave grit the fish sift through their gills, absorbing oxygen and nutrients while swimming swiftly as their cousins slide through sea. They lack all natural enemies—no sand orcas or seals, sand gulls or pelicans that plunge into hot dunes to scoop and spear; no sand fishermen with subterranean hooks and nets; no sand marlin, sand sharks. The desert breeds gentle fish. (Abundant sun? Few clouds? Some quality of superheated air?) Still, they are rare. The Bedouin who sees one is called Allah’s Best-Blessed, and can claim any camel in the tribe. (This has not happened in years.) It’s said the sand fish have gone deep as tuna do, spooked by a ship. Gone deep, and learned to slip through rock. I hope it’s true, though it means I’ll never see one. When L.A.’s desert seems hostile to life, I close my eyes, and sense shapes moving miles below—megamouth, evolved past hunger in the stony night; deep-sea anglerfish with lanterns on their heads that blink like fireflies : an intermittent guiding light. ...