AN EXTRAORDINARY FISH.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1126, 18 August 1882, Page 4

AN EXTRAORDINARY FISH.

Thebe is now on exhibition in Bomlay a remarkable fish, which, according to the exhibitors, is a distinct proof of the existence of the mermaid, a being hitherto believed to be only a myth invented by the imaginative mind of some individual who wished to give a poetic character to the inhabitants of the deep. The animal to which we ore referring was brought to Bombay from Aden a few days since in one of the Rubattino steamers by two Turks, who allege that they caught the creature alivo on the coast of the Red Sea near Jedda. It had got into shallow water, and with some little difficulty they secured it, and took it on to Aden, where it was publicly exhibited for some time. The animal is about nine feet long, and, although answering in many particulars to our proconceived ideas of a mermaid, it has the inherent defect of partaking of the male genus, and is in other respects so hideously ugly that it is impossible to reconcile it with the graceful pictures depicted on trade marks and advertisements of marine objects. Its head is more like that of a pig or a monkey than that of a man, but it has a clearly recognisable nose and mouth, and on its forehead are a number of stiff bristles which have somewhat the appearance of hair. Its eyes are situated at the side of its head instead of the front. The most wonderful feature of the animal is a pair of arms which bear ■great resemblance to the upper limbs of a monkey, with the exception that they are much shorter. There are four long fingers and a short one answering to the thumb on the hand, and the joints of each finger are plainly discernible. From the head, the body gradually decreases in circumference until it culminates in a well-defined tail similar to that of an ordinary fish. For purposes of preservation the inaide of the animal has been removed, and, owing possibly to the action of chemical or vegetable substances used to prevent decay, the skin presents a dark-brown appearance, and is hard and smooth to the touch. Altogether this curious monster of the deep affords an interesting study to naturalists, and a critical examination of its structure by a competent man should be made in the interests of science. Sceptical people are of opinion that the whole thing is an imposture, but ■u we can say is that if the animal is not what it is represented to be, it is one of the cleverest deceptions we have ever seen, and its exhibitors deserve all they may receive in the shape of fees for admission.—“ Times of India.”