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11. Fishes in Stories and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
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128 What roles do fishes play in religion and mythology? The sea is a dangerous and mysterious place and understandably the source of many myths. Innumerable sea monsters gobbled up sailors, landing a place in history. Some of these monsters were in reality whales, giant squid, and sharks, others were bony fishes, and some were the result of imaginations fed by the perils of long ocean voyages, without decent photographic equipment. But their place in mythology and religious ceremony is well established around the world, as in the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Philistines, all who worshiped a half-fish, halfhuman god. An apparent source of many sea serpent stories, particularly those describing a giant beast “having the head of a horse with a flaming red mane,” were Oarfish (Regalecus glesne, Regalecidae). Oarfish are probably the longest bony fish in the world, reaching a reported length of 11 meters (35 feet). They have a bluish-silvery body, scarlet head crest with long fin rays, and deep red fins. It is unlikely that one ever ate a sailor, since Oarfish feed primarily on tiny fish and invertebrates. Other sitings of sea serpents are now thought to have involved decomposing Basking Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus, Cetorhinidae), which grow to 12.5 meters (40 feet) long and leave behind a cartilage skeleton with a huge head and a long tail. Long sea voyages also spawned many tales of mermaids, creatures with the upper body of a woman and a lower half of a fish (that few mermen appear in myths probably reflects the fact that ships were staffed by lonely men). Most mermaid reports were likely based on sightings of dugongs or manatees, which are marine mammals with whalelike tails, a recognizable Chapter 11 Fishes in Stories and Literature 129 Fishes in Stories and Literature face (but with whiskers), and that nurse their young as any good mammal would. Some documented accounts included drawings. The eighteenthcentury Dutch artist Samuel Fallours drew a 59-inch mermaid that he said he kept in a bathtub in Indonesia for 4 days and 7 hours. The drawing was published along with other fanciful sea creatures by natural historian Louis Renard. Mermaids appear in the legends of non-sailors too. A Jengu is a creature of ancient Cameroon, Africa, lore who is much like a mermaid that lives in rivers and the sea and brings good luck to those who worship her. Many large lakes house monsters and serpents that may (or may not) be fishes. The best known is Nessie of Loch Ness, Scotland. But Nessie is far from alone, although she (?) is separated by continents and oceans from others of her apparent kind. Lake Erie has South Bay Bessie, a 10 to 12 meter (30 to 40 foot) grayish creature that is said to resemble a snake or an eel. Crescent Lake, Newfoundland, has Cressie. Lake Tahoe, California is home to Tessie. Canada’s Lake Okanagan has Ogopogo, Lake Champlain of New York and Vermont has Champ. Still unnamed is a 10 meter (30 foot) monster in the White River of Arkansas that some people think is actually one or several sturgeons or Paddlefish. Alkali Lake in Nebraska has a 12-meter (40 foot) creature with a horn between its eyes. In Alaska, Illiamna Lake’s monsters are grayish, broad headed, with bodies that are 20 meter (60 foot) long and vertical tails. Utah has at least five different monsters in five different lakes. Lake Tianchi, China, also has a monster. Are these fishes from a bygone era, or plesiosaurs, or logs, or ripples in afternoon sunlight? Who’s to say? Other large, feared fishes are unquestionably real. Sawfishes (Pristidae) live in nearshore, tropical areas and often enter fresh water. They occur, or occurred, in the river mouths and bays of Australia, Florida, Central America, and in tropical West Africa. These huge, powerful relatives of skates and rays can reach lengths exceeding 7 meters (23 foot) and weights of over 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms). Projecting from either side of the sword-like snout are rows of 1-inch long, narrow, spiky teeth that are used for slashing sideways through schools of prey. A blow from a large sawfish can cut off a person’s arm or foot. Aztecs treated sawfish as an Earth monster, and Asian tribal doctors used the snout to chase away demons and cure disease. Among coastal African societies, sawfish are considered among the most dangerous beasts one can encounter, with supernatural...