§9.37#1ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς θαλαττίοις ζῴοις πολλὰ τεχνικὰ θεωρῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς ἑκάστων βίους.
Among marine animals as well, there are many clever strategies to be observed in relation to their respective lives.
Τά τε γὰρ θρυλούμενα περὶ τὸν βάτραχον τὸν ἁλιέα καλούμενόν ἐστιν ἀληθῆ, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν νάρκην.
For what is commonly told about the frog called the angler is true, and also what is told about the torpedo.
Ὁ μὲν γὰρ βάτραχος τοῖς πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀποκρεμαμένοις, ὦν τὸ μὲν μῆκός ἐστι τριχοειδές, ἐπ’ ἄκρου δὲ στρογγύλον, ὥσπερ προσκείμενον ἑκατέρῳ δελέατος χάριν· ὅταν οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἀμμώδεσιν ἢ θολώδεσιν ἀναταράξας κρύψῃ ἑαυτόν, ἐπαίρει τὰ τριχώδη, κοπτόντων δὲ τῶν ἰχθυδίων συγκατάγει μέχριπερ ἂν πρὸς τὸ στόμα προσαγάγῃ.
For the angler-fish, with the things hanging in front of its eyes—of which the length is like hair and the tip is round, just as if attached to each as a bait—therefore, when it has stirred up and hidden itself in sandy or muddy places, it raises those hair-like filaments, and when small fish nibble at them, it draws them down until it brings them right to its mouth.
Ἥ τε νάρκη ναρκᾶν ποιοῦσα ὧν ἂν κρατήσειν μέλλῃ ἰχθύων, τῷ τρόπῳ ὃν ἔχει ἐν τῷ στόματι λαμβάνουσα, τρέφεται τούτοις, κατακρύπτεται δ’ εἰς τὴν ἄμμον καὶ πηλόν, λαμβάνει δὲ τὰ ἐπινέοντα, ὅσα ἂν ναρκήσῃ ἐπιφερόμενα τῶν ἰχθύων·
And the torpedo, making numb whichever of the fish it is about to capture, catching them by the means it has in its mouth, feeds on them; and it hides itself in the sand and mud, and catches those swimming above, as many of the fish as drift towards it after being numbed.
καὶ τούτου αὐτόπται γεγένηνταί τινες.
And some have been eyewitnesses of this.
Κατακρύπτει δὲ καὶ ἡ τρυγὼν αὑτήν, πλὴν οὐχ ὁμοίως.
The sting-ray also hides itself, though not in the same manner.
Σημεῖον δ’ ὅτι τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ζῶσιν· ἁλίσκονται γὰρ ἔχοντες κεστρέας πολλάκις ὄντες αὐτοὶ βραδύτατοι, τὸν τάχιστον τῶν ἰχθύων.
And this is a proof that they live in this manner: for they are often caught holding mullets, though they themselves are extremely slow, while the mullet is the swiftest of fish.
Ἔπειτα ὁ μὲν βάτραχος, ὅταν μηκέτ’ ἔχῃ τὰ ἐπὶ ταῖς θριξίν, ἁλίσκεται λεπτότερος· ἡ δὲ νάρκη φανερά ἐστι καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ποιοῦσα ναρκᾶν.
Furthermore, the angler-fish, when it no longer has the things on its hair-like filaments, is caught in a thinner condition; and the torpedo is well known to make human beings numb as well.
Καθαμμίζουσι δ’ ἑαυτὰ καὶ ὄνος καὶ βάτος καὶ ψῆττα καὶ ῥίνη, καὶ ὅταν ποιήσῃ ἑαυτὰ ἄδηλα, εἶτα ῥαβδεύεται τοῖς ἐν τῷ στόματι, ἃ καλοῦσιν οἱ ἁλιεῖς ῥαβδία· προσέρχονται δ’ ὡς πρὸς φυκία ἀφ’ ὧν τρέφονται.
The hake, the ray, the turbot, and the angel-fish also cover themselves with sand, and when they have made themselves invisible, they then wave the appendages in their mouths, which fishermen call 'little rods'; and other fish approach them as if to seaweed from which they feed.
Ὅπου δ’ ἂν ἀνθίας ὁραθῇ, οὐκ ἔστι θηρίον· ᾧ καὶ σημείῳ χρώμενοι κατακολυμβῶσιν οἱ σπογγεῖς, καὶ καλοῦσιν ἱεροὺς ἰχθῦς τούτους·
And where the anthias is seen, there is no dangerous beast; using this as a sign, the sponge-divers dive down, and they call these fish 'sacred'.
ἔοικε δὲ συμπτώματι, καθάπερ ὅπου ἂν ᾖ κοχλίας, σῦς οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲ πέρδιξ· κατεσθίουσι γὰρ ἄμφω τοὺς κοχλίας.
But it seems like a coincidence, just as wherever there is a snail, there is neither pig nor partridge; for both devour snails.
Ὁ δ’ ὄφις ὁ θαλάττιος τὸ μὲν χρῶμα παραπλήσιον ἔχει τῷ γόγγρῳ καὶ τὸ σῶμα, πλήν ἐστιν ἀμαυρότερος καὶ σφοδρότερος· ἐὰν δὲ ληφθῇ καὶ ἀφεθῇ, εἰς τὴν ἄμμον καταδύεται ταχὺ τῷ ῥύγχει διατρυπήσας· ἔχει δ’ ὀξύτερον τὸ στόμα τῶν ὄφεων.
The sea-serpent has a color and body very close to the conger, except it is darker and more violent; and if it is caught and let go, it quickly dived into the sand, boring with its snout; and it has a mouth sharper than that of other serpents.
Ἣν δὲ καλοῦσι σκολόπενδραν, ὅταν καταπίῃ τὸ ἄγκιστρον, ἐκτρέπεται τὰ ἐντὸς ἐκτός, ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ τὸ ἄγκιστρον· εἶθ’ οὕτως εἰστρέπεται πάλιν ἐντός.
And what they call the scolopendra, when it swallows the hook, turns its inside out, until it casts out the hook; then in this way it turns inside back in again.
Βαδίζουσι δ’ αἱ σκολόπενδραι πρὸς τὰ κνισώδη, ὥσπερ καὶ αἱ χερσαῖαι.
The scolopendras move towards greasy things, just as the land ones do.
Τῷ μὲν οὖν στόματι οὐ δάκνουσι, τῇ δὲ ἅψει καθ’ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα, ὥσπερ αἱ καλούμεναι κνῖδαι.
Now they do not bite with their mouth, but sting by contact with their whole body, like the so-called sea-nettles.
Τῶν δ’ ἰχθύων αἱ ὀνομαζόμεναι ἀλώπεκες ὅταν αἴσθωνται ὅτι τὸ ἄγκιστρον καταπεπώκασι, βοηθοῦσι πρὸς τοῦτο ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ σκολόπενδρα· ἀναδραμοῦσαι γὰρ ἐπὶ πολὺ πρὸς τὴν ὁρμιὰν ἀποτρώγουσιν αὐτῆς· ἁλίσκονται γὰρ περὶ ἐνίους τόπους πολυαγκίστροις ἐν ῥοώδεσι καὶ βαθέσι τόποις.
And among fish, the so-called foxes, when they perceive that they have swallowed the hook, help themselves in this matter just as the scolopendra does; for swimming up far along the fishing-line, they bite it through; indeed they are caught in some regions with many-hooked lines in rapid and deep waters.
Συστρέφονται δὲ καὶ αἱ ἄμιαι, ὅταν τι θηρίον ἴδωσι, καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτῶν περινέουσιν αἱ μέγισται, κἂν ἅπτηταί τινος, ἀμύνουσιν· ἔχουσι δ’ ὀδόντας ἰσχυρούς, καὶ ἤδη ὦπται καὶ ἄλλα καὶ λάμια ἐμπεσοῦσα καὶ καθελκωθεῖσα.
The amiae also gather together when they see any wild beast, and the largest of them swim in a circle around them, and if it touches any of them, they defend it; they have strong teeth, and on occasion other beasts, including a shark, have been seen to attack them and to be severely wounded.
Τῶν δὲ ποταμίων ὁ γλάνις ὁ ἄρρην περὶ τὰ τέκνα ποιεῖται ἐπιμέλειαν πολλήν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ θήλεια τεκοῦσα ἀπαλλάττεται, ὁ δ’ ἄρρην, οὗ ἂν πλεῖστον συστῇ τοῦ κυήματος, ᾠοφυλακεῖ παραμένων, οὐδεμίαν ὠφέλειαν ἄλλην παρεχόμενος πλὴν ἐρύκων τἆλλα ἰχθύδια μὴ διαρπάσωσι τὸν γόνον· καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ ἡμέρας καὶ τετταράκοντα καὶ πεντήκοντα, ἕως ἂν αὐξηθεὶς ὁ γόνος δύνηται διαφεύγειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἰχθύων.
Among freshwater fish, the male catfish shows great care for its young; for the female, having spawned, departs, but the male, remaining where the greatest mass of the spawn is collected, guards the eggs, providing no other assistance than keeping off other small fish so that they may not plunder the offspring; and it does this for forty or fifty days, until the offspring have grown and are able to escape from the other fish.
Γινώσκεται δ’ ὑπὸ τῶν ἁλιέων οὗ ἂν τύχῃ ᾠοφυλακῶν· ἐρύκων γὰρ τὰ ἰχθύδια ἄττει καὶ ἦχον ποιεῖ καὶ μυγμόν.
And it is recognized by the fishermen where it happens to be guarding the eggs; for in keeping off the small fish, it darts forward and makes a sound and a muttering.
Οὕτω δὲ φιλοστόργως μένει πρὸς τοῖς ᾠοῖς, ὥστε οἱ ἁλιεῖς ἑκάστοτε, ἐὰν ἐν βαθείαις ῥίζαις τὰ ᾠὰ προσῇ, ἀνάγουσιν ὡς ἂν δύνωνται εἰς βραχύτατον· ὁ δ’ ὁμοίως οὐκ ἀπολείπει τὸν γόνον, ἀλλ’ ἐὰν μὲν τύχῃ, ταχέως ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγκίστρου ἑάλω διὰ τὸ ἁρπάζειν τὰ προσιόντα τῶν ἰχθυδίων, ἐὰν δ’ ᾖ συνήθης καὶ ἀγκιστροφάγος, λείπει μὲν οὐδ’ ὣς τὸν γόνον, τῷ δ’ ὀδόντι τῷ σκληροτάτῳ συνδάκνων διαφθείρει τὰ ἄγκιστρα.
And it remains by the eggs so affectionately that the fishermen, each time, if the eggs are attached to deep roots, bring them up as much as they can into very shallow water; but it likewise does not abandon its offspring, and if it happens to be inexperienced, it is quickly caught by the hook because of its snatching at the approaching small fish; but if it is experienced and a hook-breaker, it does not abandon its offspring even so, but by biting them with its extremely hard teeth, it destroys the hooks.
Ἅπαντα δὲ καὶ τὰ πλωτὰ καὶ τὰ μόνιμα τούτους νέμεται τοὺς τόπους ἐν οἷς ἂν φυῶσι, καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους τούτοις· ἡ γὰρ οἰκεία τροφὴ ἑκάστων ἐν τούτοις ἐστίν.
And all creatures, both the swimming and the stationary, inhabit those places in which they were produced, and those similar to them; for the appropriate food of each is in these places.
Πλανᾶται δὲ μάλιστα τὰ σαρκοφάγα· πάντα δὲ σχεδόν ἐστι σαρκοφάγα πλὴν ὀλίγων, οἷον κεστρέως καὶ σάλπης καὶ τρίγλης καὶ χαλκίδος.
And the carnivorous ones wander the most; and almost all of them are carnivorous except a few, such as the mullet, the salpa, the red mullet, and the chalcis.
Τῇ δὲ καλουμένῃ φωλίδι ἡ μύξα, ἣν ἀφίησι, περιπλάττεται περὶ αὐτὴν καὶ γίνεται καθάπερ θαλάμη.
In the case of the so-called pholis, the mucus which it discharges smears around it and becomes just like a chamber.
Τῶν δ’ ὀστρακοδέρμων καὶ ἀπόδων ὁ κτεὶς μάλιστα καὶ πλεῖστον κινεῖται δι’ αὑτοῦ πετόμενος· ἡ γὰρ πορφύρα ἐπὶ μικρότατον προέρχεται, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια ταύτῃ.
Among the testaceans and the footless, the scallop moves the most and to the greatest extent, flying by its own power; for the purple-murex advances only a very little, and others similar to it.
Ἐκ δὲ τοῦ εὐρίπου τοῦ ἐν Πύρρᾳ οἱ ἰχθύες χειμῶνος μὲν ἐκπλέουσιν ἔξω, πλὴν κωβιοῦ, διὰ τὸ ψῦχος (ψυχρότερος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ εὔριπος), ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἔαρι πάλιν εἰσπλέουσιν.
From the strait in Pyrrha, the fish swim out in winter, except for the goby, because of the cold (for the strait is colder), and at the same time with the spring they swim back in.