Bruce Leyland-Jones
Fish Aficionado
So there I am, lost in that deep reverie that often occurs, when you drift off into The Big Glass Box, admiring those brightly sparkly creatures within.
The 'fish', in their varied shapes, perfectly adapted to the medium of water and, putting aside their internal and biochemical differences, I can still recognise eyes, moth and...oooh look...a bit of poop, so there's an exhaust pipe!
Fins instead of limbs, but it doesn't take much imagination linking a fish to Yours Truly, with changes over many millennia. Harlequin, cherry barb...then a stately Tyrion cruises past, swarmed by a small group of tiny chili rasbora. The Panda Garra inserts its suckery fizzogg in front and I'm drawn don the tank, to where a group of serpentine kuhli loach are writhing about, all over the algae wafer that they seem to like so much. All of this familiarity is quite understandable, because all follow a basic pattern of a central nerve chord, with everything else built around it.
Then a couple of shrimp arrive.
One swims past, before executing a complete halt, mid-water, whilst another scuttles across to the wafer. Ten legs, in perfect symphony; walking legs, swimming legs and then those little extras at the front, for finding and manipulating food. All those moving parts, totally in synch with what the wee beastie requires and that wee beastie is wholly alien. Whiskery antennae, weird little eyes and complex mouth parts. Another one stretches.
Yet another one finds a piece of cast-off shell and begins to munch down on it. Another grabs a piece of food and runs away, up a rock, to enjoy it in some relative peace.
A kuhli waves past, heading up into the floating Salvinia and swirling through the down-dangling roots, where I notice more shrimp, doing small, shrimpy things.
Then a nerite snail oozed in front of my eyeball, no legs, just a muscular pulse, with a small, round, gnashing gnasher at the front, with incredibly fine hairs, waving about, each apparently carrying an eyeball.
My mind is blown.
The 'fish', in their varied shapes, perfectly adapted to the medium of water and, putting aside their internal and biochemical differences, I can still recognise eyes, moth and...oooh look...a bit of poop, so there's an exhaust pipe!
Fins instead of limbs, but it doesn't take much imagination linking a fish to Yours Truly, with changes over many millennia. Harlequin, cherry barb...then a stately Tyrion cruises past, swarmed by a small group of tiny chili rasbora. The Panda Garra inserts its suckery fizzogg in front and I'm drawn don the tank, to where a group of serpentine kuhli loach are writhing about, all over the algae wafer that they seem to like so much. All of this familiarity is quite understandable, because all follow a basic pattern of a central nerve chord, with everything else built around it.
Then a couple of shrimp arrive.
One swims past, before executing a complete halt, mid-water, whilst another scuttles across to the wafer. Ten legs, in perfect symphony; walking legs, swimming legs and then those little extras at the front, for finding and manipulating food. All those moving parts, totally in synch with what the wee beastie requires and that wee beastie is wholly alien. Whiskery antennae, weird little eyes and complex mouth parts. Another one stretches.
Yet another one finds a piece of cast-off shell and begins to munch down on it. Another grabs a piece of food and runs away, up a rock, to enjoy it in some relative peace.
A kuhli waves past, heading up into the floating Salvinia and swirling through the down-dangling roots, where I notice more shrimp, doing small, shrimpy things.
Then a nerite snail oozed in front of my eyeball, no legs, just a muscular pulse, with a small, round, gnashing gnasher at the front, with incredibly fine hairs, waving about, each apparently carrying an eyeball.
My mind is blown.
