ANIMAL: European Weatherfish Misgurnus fossilis Type of Animal: True Loach Habitat: Rivers, warm shallow canals, warm shallow drainage ditches, warm shallow oxbow lakes, lakes, warm shallow fishponds, dense aquatic vegetation patches, detritus-rich shorelines, streams, farm ponds Location(s): Ranges from Netherlands/Belgium/NE France in W through C & E Europe s to Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, & far N Albania eastward to W/C Russia & NW Kazakhstan. Introduced in parts of France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Croatia, & Great Lakes region. Appearance: Slender eel/snake-like fish, brownish to bronze to yellowish coloration w/ brown banding, noticeable barbels (whiskers) around mouth Food/Diet: Detritus, carrion, krill, worms, brine shrimp, crickets, chironomid flies, copepods, waterlice, ostracods, beetle larvae, water fleas, gastropods, plant matter, fish Status in Wild: Stable Conservation: Breeding in aquariums & aquaculture. Monitoring of certain populations/habitats. Reintroductions in certain areas. Lifestyle: Schools of 3-30 fish Additional Info: Called: Male Female Young: Fry Group: School Weight: Male: 4 oz Female: 5-6 oz Gestation: 2-3 days Life Span: 4-10 years Body Length: Male: 8 in Female: 12 in Young: 2 in Tail Length: Male: 1.8 in Female: 2 in Main predators are larger fish. Also called Pond Loach & European Weather Loach. Sexually mature at a year old. One of the largest true loaches. These fish make good pets & will readily feed from owner’s hand. Spawning pairs perform mating dance in which male wraps himself around females & fertilizes eggs as female lays them. Eggs attach to plants/substrate. Males often live shorter lifespans than females. These fish are very hardy & adaptable. Females lay thousands of eggs in single spawning. Fun Fact(s): During droughts/cooler weather, these fish burrow in moist substrate, sometimes out of water. These fish can survive out of water for extended time periods, as long as substrate moist. When out of water, they’ll swallow air & absorb atmospheric oxygen as well as produce thick mucus for keeping body moist. In low oxygen conditions, these fish will swim to surface & gulp air. Air then goes through intestines where complex blood vessel system extracts oxygen before air expelled from anus. These fish can even breathe atmospheric oxygen. Get weatherfish name due to increase in activity as result of barometric pressure. They’re especially active before storms. They can basically predict weather. People have kept these fish for centuries, if not millennia, as weather predictors.
So queer that, because the Doctor assures me, he would never have been in a position to
come back to a particular conclusion but for one little incontrovertible fact that I used to be ready to supply.
From one I learned that the boy is father to the man, and from another, to
a lot the same effect, that the poet is born, not made.
I didn’t need books; I wished to run within the fields with Maggie and
look on all of the issues that have been so novel and strange
to a London boy. I, “to have brought us these
issues to look at, however I do not quite see why you did it. Our curiosity in
the affair ended with the inquest, and i take it that yours did too. Or
did not it?”
“It did not,” he replied. But in that curious hazy beginning
of memory when the events of our childhood come back to us in detached
scenes like the photographs of a magic lantern, the outdated clock is the one
distinct object; and as recollections turn out to be more linked, I can see myself sitting within the little chair
that Uncle Gollidge had made for me, wanting up at the clock with an interest and pleasure that have been never exhausted.