The fish that had thus singularly fallen into their hands was, as Ben
had stated, the sucking-fish, _Echeneis remora_,--one of the most
curious creatures that inhabit the sea. Not so much from any
peculiarity in appearance as from the singularity of its habits.
Its appearance, however, is sufficiently singular; and looking upon it,
one might consider the creature as being well adapted for keeping
company with the ferocious tyrant of the deep, on whom it constantly
attends.
Its body is black and smooth, its head of a hideous form, and its fins
short and broadly spread. The mouth is very large, with the lower jaw
protruding far beyond the upper, and it is this that gives to it the
cast of feature, if we may be permitted to speak of "features" in a
fish.
Both lips and jaws are amply provided with teeth; and the throat,
palate, and tongue are set profusely with short spines. The eyes are
dark, and set high up. The "sucker" or buckler upon the top of its head
consists of a number of bony plates, set side by side, so as to form an
oval disc, and armed along the edges with little tentacles, or teeth, as
the boy William had observed.
His companion's account of the creature was perfectly correct, so far as
it went; but there are many other points in its "history" quite as
curious as those which the sailor had communicated.
The fish has neither swim-bladder nor sound; and as, moreover, its fins
are of the feeblest kind, it is probably on this account that it has
been gifted with the power of adhering to other floating bodies, by way
of compensation for the above-named deficiencies. The slow and prowling
movements of the white shark, render it particularly eligible for the
purposes of the sucking-fish, either as a resting-place or a means of
conveyance from place to place; and it is well-known that the shark is
usually attended by several of these singular satellites. Other
floating objects, however, are used by the sucking-fish,--such as pieces
of timber, the keel of a ship; and it even rests itself against the
sides of submerged rocks, as the sailor had stated. It also adheres to
whales, turtles, and the larger kinds of albacore.
Its food consists of shrimps, marine insects, fragments of molluscous
animals, and the like; but it obtains no nutriment through the
sucking-apparatus, nor does it in any way injure the animal to which it
adheres. It only makes use of the sucker at intervals; at other times,
swimming around the object it attends, and looking out for prey of its
own choice, and on its own account. While swimming it propels itself by
rapid lateral movements of the tail, executed awkwardly and with a
tortuous motion.
It is itself preyed upon by other fish,--diodons and albacores; but the
shark is merciful to it, as to the pilot-fish, and never interferes with
it.
Sucking-fish are occasionally seen of a pure white colour associating
with the black ones, and also attending upon the shark. They are
supposed to be merely varieties or _albinos_.
When sharks are hooked and drawn on board a ship, the sucking-fishes
that have been swimming around them will remain for days, and even
weeks, following the vessel throughout all her courses. They can then
be taken by a hook and line, baited with a piece of flesh; and they will
seize the bait when let down in the stillest water. In order to secure
them, however, it is necessary, after they have been hooked, to jerk
them quickly out of the water; else they will swim rapidly to the side
of the ship, and fix their sucker so firmly against the wood, as to defy
every attempt to dislodge them.
There are two well-known species of sucking-fish,--the common one
described, and another of larger size, found in the Pacific, the
_Echeneis australis_. The latter is a better shaped fish than its
congener, can swim more rapidly, and is altogether of a more active
habit.
Perhaps the most interesting fact in the history of the _Echeneis_ is
its being the same fish as that known to the Spanish navigators as the
_remora_, and which was found by Columbus in possession of the natives
of Cuba and Jamaica, _tamed, and trained to the catching of turtles_!
Their mode of using it was by attaching a cord of palm sennit to a ring
already fastened round the tail, at the smallest part between the
ventral and caudal fins. It was then allowed to swim out into the sea;
while the other end of the cord was tied to a tree, or made fast to a
rock upon the beach. The _remora_ being thus set--just as one would set
a baited hook--was left free to follow its own inclinations,--which
usually were to fasten its sucking-plates against the shell of one of
the great sea-turtles,--so famed at aldermanic feasts and prized by
modern _gourmets_, and equally relished by the ancient Cuban _caciques_.
At intervals, the turtle-catcher would look to his line; and when the
extra strain upon it proved that the _remora_ was _en rapport_ with a
turtle, he would haul in, until the huge _chelonian_ was brought within
striking distance of his heavy club; and thus would the capture be
effected.
Turtles of many hundreds' weight could be taken in this way; for the
pull upon the _remora_ being towards the tail,--and therefore in a
backward direction,--the sucking-fish could not be detached, unless by
the most violent straining.
It is a fact of extreme singularity, that a similar method of capturing
turtles is practised on the coast of Mozambique at the present day, and
by a people who never could have had any communication with the
aborigines of the West Indian Islands, much less have learnt from them
this curious craft of angling with a fish!
A smaller species of the sucking-fish is found in the Mediterranean,--
the _Echeneis remora_. It was well-known to the ancient writers;
though, like most creatures gifted with any peculiarity, it was oftener
the subject of fabulous romance than real history. It was supposed to
have the power of arresting the progress of a ship, by attaching itself
to the keel and pulling in a contrary direction! A still more
ridiculous virtue was attributed to it: in the belief that, if any
criminal in dread of justice could only succeed in inducing the judge to
partake of a portion of its flesh, he would be able to obtain a long
delay before the judge could pronounce the verdict of his condemnation!