Stephen Grubb, age 10, of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, for his question:
Is there really a fish with four eyes?
We expect a fish to be satisfied with just two glassy eyes, one on each side of his scaley head. But, as usual, there is always somebody who breaks the rules. In this case, he is a creature called the four eyed fish. To look at him, you might think that he has only two rather odd shaped eyes. But the four eyed fish really does have four different eyes.
Most fishes have eyes that are made to see under water. When they swim near the surface, the scenery above looks twisted and blurry. But the four eyed fish can view the scenery both above and below the water. To look at him, you might think that he has only two eyes that bulge like small marbles on the top of his head. But each eye is actually two eyes in one. Each half works on its own. One half surveys the scenery above the surface. The other half keeps an eye on what goes on below in the water.
Several species of four eyed fish enjoy life in the mild coastal waters of the Atlantic, off Central and South America. They like the shallow, brakish waters around rivers and salty marshes. The giants of the family are a foot long. But the average four eyed fish is a slim, cylinder shaped creature that measures six or seven inches from his stubby nose to his rounded tail fin. Where there is one, there are sure to be many more, for the four eyed fishes throng together.
Like most fishes, they feed on a mixed diet. Their menus include small algae and larger seaweeds, little fishes and shellfishes and scraps of decaying material. They also enjoy the eggs and larvae of insects that spend their early life stages in the water.
Naturally, a four eyes fish swims near the surface to make the very best use of his remarkable vision. As a rule, his long slender body lies just below the water level and his bulging eyes poke partly above the surface. He tries to arrange things so that the water level divides each eye across the middle. This places two eyes above and two eyes below the water. He can see what goes on in both worlds.
These remarkable eyes give him a great advantage over ordinary two eyed fishes. He sees more and knows more and what he knows makes him the most wide awake fish in the sea. Fishermen report that he is the hardest of all fishes to catch. He seems to know how a fishing net works and hurtles himself right over the trap. He spots an angler and refuses to be fooled by the bait on a fishing line.
This remarkable creature has another unusual feature. Other fishes cast hundreds of eggs adrift in the water and most of their offspring perish in infancy. Mrs. Four Eyes bears live babies. She gives birth to a brood of six to 13 frisky youngsters. Each one measures about 3/4 of an inch and, with his four eyes in working order, he is all set to make his own way in the world.