Part 102

“There are, however, the ribbon-fishes; and some of these, as the hair-tail, the Vaegmaer, and the Gymnetrus, are of large size, and slender sword-like form. Several kinds have been found in the North Atlantic, and, wherever seen, they invariably excite wonder and curiosity. All of these are furnished with a back-fin; but in other respects they little correspond with the descriptions of the animal in question. One of their most striking characteristics, moreover, is, that their surface resembles polished steel or silver.”

In 1860 a ribbon-fish of large dimensions was captured on Bermudas Isles. Mr. TRIMINGHAM, the captor, placed it at the disposal of Mr. J. MATTHEW JONES, a naturalist living there. This gentleman described the animal for the Zoologist, in which his paper appeared in the volume of that year (p. 6986). Now Mr. JONES ended his article as follows:

“The most notable fact however, in connection with the capture of the present specimen, will doubtless be the interest and attraction it will produce on the scientific world, for most assuredly we have in the specimen now before us many of the peculiarities, save size, with which the appearance of that hitherto apocryphal monster “The Great Sea-Serpent”, as detailed by navigators, is invested. The lengthened filaments crowning the caput, joined anteriorly by the connecting membrane, and extending to the shoulders, would, viewed from a vessel’s deck, present to the spectator the mane so accurately described as a singular feature in the gigantic specimen seen by Capt. M’Quhae, R. N., and officers of H. M. S. Daedalus. Then again, the rapidity with which that individual specimen moved through the water, would coincide with the capabilities of a member of this genus, for the motive power produced by such an extent of tail, coupled with the extremely compressed form of body from the head throughout, must be immense.”

“Here then we have a partial elucidation of the various statements which have at intervals appeared in the columns of the united presses of England and America, emanating from the pens of travelers, and usually headed--“Occurrence of the Sea-Serpent”--criticised, however, in an ungenerous manner, and always exposed to an unmerited ridicule at the hands of the many, but, nevertheless, firmly believed in by the few, who have patiently waited to see the day when the mystic cloud which has hitherto veiled the existence of the maned denizen of the deep should vanish with the suspicion of the sceptic, and exhibit more clearly the truth of the assertions of those ill-used men, who, endeavouring like useful members of society to extend the cause of natural knowledge by publishing candid accounts of what their eyes have seen, have always met with an amount of contempt and reproach, sufficient to silence for ever the pen of many a truthful writer.”

“I am sorry I have not the numero of the Illustrated London News at hand in which Capt. M’Quhae’s graphic statement appeared, as it would have afforded me an opportunity of particularising other features in connection with his specimen and the present one. The facts, however, regarding the mane-like appendage, and the rapidity of motion to which I have alluded, are still fresh in my memory.”

Mr. NEWMAN, the Editor of the Zoologist, thinking this ribbon-fish a new species, gave a detailed description of it, and honoured it with the name of Regalecus Jonesii, but to our great astonishment, he, who firmly believed the sea-serpent to be an Enaliosaurus (as we have observed above) now seems to be in doubt about the matter, for he ends his article with the following words:

“In reference to the last question mooted by Mr. Jones, the similarity of Regalecus Jonesii to Capt. M’Quhae’s sea-serpent, I do not consider myself competent to express an opinion. I am quite willing for the present to allow every sea-serpent to hold on its own course; hereafter a better opportunity may be afforded on comparing and arranging the conflicting evidence already published in the “Zoologist”.”

The ribbon-fish hypothesis gradually takes a firmer hold on the unbelievers, no doubt, as it seems more plausible than the Plesiosaurus-one. An inhabitant of Cape Town wrote the following note which I have found in Nature of the 1st. August, 1872:

“The South-African Museum, Cape Town, recently received a specimen of the Ribbon Fish (Gymnoterus) fifteen feet long without the tail. It appears that this fish is known to distant inland fishermen as being forty feet long, and from its slender shape and snake-like movement is probably the “sea-serpent” of late years so minutely described by navigators. From its head there is erected a plume of flexible, rose-coloured spines, and from head to tail along its back there is a conspicuous mane-like fin. Its general colour is like burnished silver. The eye is large and silvery, and the profile of the head comports well with that of the horse. The specimen could not be preserved, but there are two smaller specimens in the Museum.”

Mr. ANDREW WILSON in his turn believes (see Nature of Sept. 12, 1878) that:

“A long tape-fish” (which is the same as a ribbon-fish) “might do duty in the eyes of non zoological observers for a sea-serpent.”

In his Leisure Time Studies he returns to his idea:

“A visit paid to the Newcastle Museum of Natural History, on which occasion I had the pleasure of inspecting a dried and preserved ribbon or tape-fish of large size, forcibly confirmed an idea that such an animal, developed to a gigantic size, and beheld from a distance by persons unskilled in natural history,--and who would, therefore, hardly dream of associating the elongated being before them with their ordinary ideas of fish-form and appearance,--might account for certain of the tales of sea-serpents which have been brought under our notice. I had been specially struck with the mention, in several accounts of sea-serpents, of a very long back fin, sometimes termed a “mane”, and of a banded body covered with tolerably smooth skin; whilst in several instances the description given of the heads of the sea-monsters closely correspond with the appearance of the head of the tape-fishes. These fishes have further been described by naturalists as occasionally having been seen swimming with an undulating or serpentine motion close to the surface of the water, the head being somewhat elevated above the surface,--this latter feature, as we have observed, forming a remark of frequent occurrence in sea-serpent tales. I found, on making inquiry into the history of these fishes, that their serpentine form had struck previous observers, but, as far as I could ascertain, their merits as representatives of sea-serpents had never before been so persistently advocated.”

“These views and the dimensions of the specimen at Newcastle, I communicated to the Scotsman and Courant newspapers in June, 1876. The measurements of the ribbon-fish at Newcastle are given as 12 feet 3 inches in length, the greatest depth being 11¹⁄₄ inches, and the greatest thickness only 2³⁄₄ inches; the small dimensions in thickness, and the relatively long length and depth, giving to these fishes the popular names of ribbon and tape-fishes. The species was the well-known Gymnetrus or Regalecus Banksii of naturalists; and by the Museum attendant at Newcastle, I was informed that a still larger specimen of the same species was recently obtained of the Northumberland coast, the length of this latter being 13¹⁄₂ feet, the depth 15 inches, and the thickness 5 inches. These fishes possess a greatly compressed body. The breast fins are very small, and the ventral or belly fins are elongated and spine-like. The first rays of the dorsal or back fin are very long, whilst the fin itself extends the whole length of the back, and obtains an average breadth of about three inches.”

“Curiously enough, the publication of these views regarding the ribbon-fishes drew forth from the head of a well-known firm of fish merchants in Edinburgh, a remarkable confirmation of the idea that gigantic specimens of these fishes might be occasionally developed. The gentleman in question wrote to inform me that about thirty years ago he engaged the smack Sovereign, of Hull, Baillie commander, to trawl in the Frith of Forth for Lord Norbury, then residing at Elie Lodge, Fifeshire. Whilst engaged in their trawling operations, the crew of the Sovereign captured a giant tape-fish, which, when spread out at length on the deck, extended beyond the limits of the vessel at stem and stern. The smack was a vessel of forty tons burthen; and the length may therefore be safely estimated at sixty feet,--this measurement being exceeded by the ribbon-fish. The breadth of the fish measured from five to nine inches, and the dorsal fin was from six to seven inches in depth. Unfortunately, Lord Norbury seemed inclined to view the giant he had captured with distrust and ordered the fish to be cut in pieces and thrown overboard; but it is also worthy of remark that the trawlers seemed to express no great surprise at the size of Lord Norbury’s specimen, since they asserted that they had met with one much larger, this latter being coloured of a dirty-brown hue.”

He also explains the animal of the Osborne (n^o. 148) by reference to a ribbon-fish in the following terms:

“I thought the opportunity a favourable one for offering a reasonable explanation of the circumstance, and I communicated my views to the Times in the following terms, the letter appearing in that journal for June 15, 1877:--“About a year ago I ventilated in the columns of several journals the idea that the “sea-serpents” so frequently seen, were in reality giant tape-fishes or ribbon-fishes. While not meaning by this statement to exclude the idea that other animals,--such as giant sea-snakes themselves,--may occasionally personate the “sea-serpent”, I am, as a zoologist, fully convinced that very many of the reported appearances of sea-serpents are explicable on the supposition that giant tape-fishes--of the existence of which no reasonable doubt can be entertained--have been seen. The report of Captain Pearson, of the royal yacht Osborne, appears, as far as zoological characters are concerned, to be fully explained on the “ribbon-fish” theory. The long back fins, the scale-less skin, the rounded head, and lastly, the two great side (or pectoral) fins, each measuring many feet in length, all form so many details corresponding exactly to the appearance of a great tape-fish. I offer these observations with the view of showing that, given a recital founded, as I believe the present narrative to be, on fact, we possess in the lists of living and of well-known animals adequate representatives of the great unknown.”

“The imperfect view obtained of the body renders the expression contained in the report, that the body was “like that of a gigantic turtle”, somewhat problematical as to its correctness; and in the absence of more defined information, does not necessarily invalidate the views expressed above as to the personality of this strange tenant of the Mediterranean Sea.”

“In an article entitled “Strange Sea Creatures,” which appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine for March, 1877, Mr. R. A. Proctor, speaking of my views regarding the sea-serpent, remarks that I offer “as an alternative only the ribbon-fish. This observation being hardly correct, I may point out that in the article in Good Words, from which Mr. Proctor quotes my views, I distinctly refer to the probability of giant sea-snakes being occasionally developed and appearing as the modern sea-serpent. The use of the word “only” in Mr. Proctor’s remark is misleading; since I offer the ribbon-fishes simply as explanatory of certain sea-serpent narratives, and not as a sole and universal representative of the modern leviathan.”

“Thus, then, with the ribbon-fishes at hand, and with the clear proof before us that these and other animals may be developed to a size which, compared with their ordinary dimensions, we can only term enormous, I think the true and valid explanation of the sea-serpent question is neither far to seek nor difficult to find. To objectors of a practical turn of mind, who may remind me that we have not yet procured even a single bone of a giant serpent, I would point out that I by no means maintain the frequent development of such beings. The most I argue for and require is their occasional production; and I would also remind such objectors of the case of the giant cuttle-fishes which, until within the past few years, remained in the same mysterious seclusion affected at present by the great serpentine unknown. I need only add that I have as firm faith in the actual discovery of a giant serpent of the sea, as that in the giant tape-fish we find its representative, or that in the huge development of ordinary forms we discover the true and natural law of its production.”

“To sum up my arguments by way of conclusion, I respectfully submit, as does a pleading counsel to his jury,--”

“Firstly: That many of the tales of sea-serpents are amply verified, when judged by the ordinary rules of evidence; this conclusion being especially supported by the want of any prima facie reason for prevarication;”

“Secondly: That, laying aside appearances which can be proved to be deceptive and to be caused by inanimate objects or by unusual attitudes on the part of familiar animals, there remains a body of evidence only to be explained on the hypothesis that certain gigantic marine animals, at present unfamiliar or unknown to science, do certainly exist; and”

“Thirdly: That the existence of such animals is a fact perfectly consistent with scientific opinion and knowledge, and is most readily explained by recognizing the fact of the occasional development of gigantic members of groups of marine animals already familiar to the naturalist.”

Mr. LEE, in his Sea Monsters Unmasked, too, supposes that “the dorsal fins.... of ribbon-fishes, as suggested by Dr. Andrew Wilson, may have furnished the “ridge of fins”.

I have only to direct my readers’ attention to the fact that a ribbon-fish has only one connected dorsal fin, and not a ridge of fins, (compare fig. 13 with fig. 44). The dorsal fin of a ribbon-fish is quite red, the mane of the sea-serpent is dark brown, nearly black; the colour of the fish is silvery, that of the sea-serpent dark brown above, nearly black, and when having swum for a long time in the sun on the surface of the water, a greyish yellow; the under parts are of a dirty white. The fish has no flappers, which are the organs of locomotion of the sea-serpent. The breadth of a ribbon-fish is only a few inches, while that of the sea-serpent, as is clearly pointed out in the animal of the Osborne (n^o. 148), may grow to more than fifteen feet. But I need not sum up the differences between ribbon-fishes and sea-serpents. We have only to ask the opinion of one of the most able ichthyologists of our days, and the whole hypothesis has not a leg to stand upon:

Mr. GÜNTHER says in his Introduction to the study of Fishes, 1880, p. 520:

“The “Ribbon-fishes” are true deep-sea fishes, met with in all parts of the oceans, generally found when floating dead on the surface, or thrown ashore by the waves.....”