Looking Back Detail Page

01 Apr

- Kenneth Bond – When in Std VII

We have a fish pond in our School and there are some interesting species in it more interesting still is the news that Mr. Lobo and Mrs. Michael discovered that some of the fish had spawn.
Now that we have had a small bit of the small let us have a big bit of the big. Bombay now has a public aquarium on Marine Drive to enter which you have to pay a small sum. On entering, we first meet the gold-fish, that necessary "MUST" in every aquarium. From this exclusive first-stage, we do the tanks in order. We meet the Ray species: The Sting-Ray, the Whip-Ray, and the Spot¬ted Ray. These breathe through a slit about one-inch long. The upper part is like a fan, while the tail tapers to a very thin point. Next we come up with the baby-sharks and these are black at the top and white underneath. The mouth, which is on the white side, contains a row of teeth, making even these young creatures look quite ferocious. Neighboring them is a pair of turtles weighing about 40 lbs. each. They are green in color and swim with the aid of their flippers. Very particularly I' should like to mention my findings in the Marine Snake Tank - here I saw a snake which had just finished shedding its skin. This whole skin was lying intact on the floor of the tank. I was also very intrigued with the black cat-fish, which had long whiskers measuring about 8 inches. Lastly, of the live species, are the very small fish kept in a sepa¬rate room - among these are the sea-horses that hang by their tails to branches of coral. Very interesting also was the seaborne so quietly showing that it was actually alive. As a finale to this absorbing display, we reviewed a little Mu¬seum, where they have preserved fish specimens which have been through a process of curing, and also ornamental exhibits made from shell-fish.