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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1957)
o .fitaKY MDFOJD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday, December IS, IS57 O Is That So? By EUGENE BURNS Ranger-Naturalist TtM lirzest animal living, next to 35 hale.i i a cold-blooded fiA, thi whale shark, first dis coirvf off Capetown in 1828. Spimria up to 43 feet long ar on record and some of 60 feet have been reliably report ed, weighing up to 134,000 pounds. This shark, with round O white Qr yellowish spots on a dark gray or brown skin. Is harmless to man unless attacked. It often basks and feeds on the surface and Is sometimes ram med by ships. It lives In the warmer areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. The' largest fish in North American waters Is the great white shark, also called for good it-- reason-, "the man-eater." It it without question the most dan geroua of all sharks. Not only does it main or kill bathers but without provocation will some timea attack small boats. A speci men taken off the California eoast was 36Vi feet long. A 21 foot specimen weighed 7,000 pounds. Like many sharks, the females give birth to living oung. Its appetite is prodigious: sea lions, seals, sea' turtles, and large fish have been found sometimes in whole condition On its stomach. Dangerous as this fish may be, fortunately it ia rather scarce. A much more dangerous one is the Piranha which al though only 10i inches long has killed perhaps more human beings than the afore-mentioned great white shark. Its power ful jaws, equipped with angular close-fitting razor-sharp teeth, can snap off a finger or toe with grisly ease. Traveling in schools, they can rip the meat off a horse within minutes. . Russian Sturgeon Largest Of fresh water fish, the giant Russian sturgeon, beluga, found in the Volga river is the largest in the worldl It has been measur ed up to 25 feet in length and a specimen has been weighed at 3,210 pounds. A female of 2,680 pounds contained over 320 pounds of eggs, or roe, enough to provide caviar canapes for an army. In American waters, a small er edition, the white sturgeon is the largest fish found enter ing fresh water which it does to spawn. It attains weights up to 1,900 pounds. Unfortunately, it is becoming rare due to heavy fishing, pollution, and large dams. From the sublime to the ridic ulous now for the smallest fish. In the sea, that honor goes to the fully grown male guppy. It is a favorite in home aquariums. Its bright reds, oranges, tyel lows, greens and violets, its' in cessant activity, interesting re productive habits, and above all, its extreme hardiness have made it one of the most popular and best known of all fish. In nature, males rarely exceed 3A of an inch smaller than a queen bee. Females grow to about twice that length. It brings forth its o All AT THE EAR NOTHING WORN OX BCDTI NO CORD DOWN NECK NO "BUTTON" M EAR! lores! wonsktor Soaotone hidden in ' ottrqctiwa glosses V jumjuss) hoofing aid in vorid, worn wrirely t f) fraH-owta model worn in variety of styles S0N0T0NE '"A C0i3 H, PHCXE OR WRITE-FREE DEMONSTRATION -NO OBLIGATION SONOTONE of MEDFORD C & ADAMSON, Manager 839 E. Jackson Ph. SP 2-5904 young alive. Broods may be as large as 126. Females may have as many as eight broods after being isolated from all other fish this begin made possible by the ability to store the male sexual element for many months. Shortest Backboned Animal As for the smallest fresh-water fish in the world, that distinc tion goes to the Pandaka pyg maea of the goby group in the lakes of the Philippines. It is also the shortest backboned ani mal known. Adult males never quite reach 3a of an inch. Fe males are about twice as long. With the exception of their prominent black eyes, these tiny fish are colorless and practically transparent. Its minute eggs are about 164 of an inch in diam eter smaller than the dot at the end of thi- sentence. However, if one uses weight instead of length, there are two fishes which are still smaller. They have no common name, but belong to the genus Schind lerira. They are tiny, slender, and transparent. The male never exceeds Ysths of an inch. It weighs perhaps l2500ths of one ounce the lightest of -all back boned animals. (Copyright 1957. by Eugene Burns) (Released by McClura Newspaper Syndicate) Free: By special arrangement with the editors of the Encylo pedia Americana, my panel of judges will award each week to the reader who sends me the best true-life nature adventure, the best nature observation, or the best question on nature and wildlife, a complete 30-volume set of this world-famous refer ence work in a handsome Seal craft binding. Each week new submissions will be considered. Sorry, I simply can't answer your many friendly letters. Please address your letter to: Is That So! co Medf ord Mail Tribune, Box ,575, Sausalito, Calif. Tope Recording Given At Osteopathic Meeting A tape recording of the diag nosis and management of acute gall bladder disease by Dr. Phil lip Thorek, clinical professor of surgery at the University of Il linois, was presented at a recent Southern Oregon Society of Os teopathic Physicians and Sur geons meeting. Dr. G: S. Jennings, III, pre sented the tape. The society also appointed a committee to study the standard ization of physicians and fee schedules presented by different insurance companies. Dr. Paul T. Rutter will be host for the January meeting. Chicory, crocus, hyssop, myrrh, and saffron are words borrowed from Mespotamia. ESTIN.GHOUSE -SVJAT SPACE WASH ANO MY M LBS. 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