FROM THE 01’SOURDOUGH’S NATURE NOTEBOOK
Now that the fishing season is upon us
and the candlefish are running,the ques
tion was raised, ’’why are the candlefish
called candlefish?” Odd as it may seem,
they were actually used as candles due
to their hi oil content by the early
pioneers and thus got their name. Act
ually the candlefish are smelts and are
delicious to eat and why people use them
for bait instead of eating is beyond me.
They are classified in the order that
includes the Salmon and Trout and they
have an adipose fin. .They are essenti
ally a salt water fish but some may be
come landlocked and live entirely in
fresh water.
About 1 week ago we counted about 400
candlefish dead on the beach at Clam La
goon. The exact name of this specis was
the Capelin. It is about 6 inches long,
color is silver on its sides and below
with an olive brown color on top. It
has small black dots on the operculum.
The dorsal fin has 12-13 rays and adi
pose fin is present. The male is larger
and along the lateral side has an eleva
ted row of scales.
The most interesting thing about these
smelts is their spawning habits. They
come in with the hi tides and deposit
their eggs and sperm in the wet sand.
Two to three weeks later, with the next
hi tide, the developing eggs are then
liberated to finish their development in
I the sea. |
The life cycle of the smelt is from 1 I
j to 4 years depending on the species.Very !
I little is known about the exact spawning !
j time, length of life, habits and life \
I cycle of these fish in this area. It j
i should be a worthwhile challenge for I
i anyone interested in wildlife or zoology j
I to study this problem. !
I Before closing I would like to mention j
j that the grunion of the south is not a j
j smelt and does not have an adipose fin.
Well the 01’Sourdough is-’’getting
j short” on the Island, next week ; "will
I be the last of these interesting articl
j es.
j As the O’l Sourdough says,
See you next week, . .
A SHORT SHORT STORY
I knew a fellow once who got more j
trouble out of his new car than it was j
worth. Anyway it was the biggest scare I
he had ever had in his life.. One after- I
noon he took the new whoopee out for a i
grand toure (as they might say in j
France?) of the city, (my home town)
My friend’s car was a pretty conver- j
tible. The color was the one thing that I
made him the proudest new car owner in i
town. It was a sharp, fire engine rod. j
After touring the city all day he decid- |
ed to take a drive in the country. f
As he rode along with the top oi tne ;
convertible down, the fresh smell of Ig
apple blossoms in his face it made himp
glad to be alive. The frogs croaked \ <
hoarsly from the creeks and ponds along |
the road. The sun was beginning to set ji
and the light of the day was beginning j
to fade, (it was getting dark) \
Suddenly the motor stalled and the {
new shiny convertible came to a halt at \
the edge of a large pasture. My friend, j
being a very amateur mechanic, piled out \
of the car and began the task of tracing j
the trouble. If it hadn’t been a new;
car I doubt if he would have fooled with j
it. He was asocial with automobile j
grease and dust, (did I use that phrase j
right) After several futile, discour-j
aging attempts at finding the trouble,he ^
suddenly heard a vocie from behind him j
saying, ’’Don’t give up mister, the trou- j
ble is the carbureator”. He spun I
around in shock (in other ' words he was {
scared out of his br "etches) to see no j
one there but an old grey mule,with one j
I
eye.
Believing that it was only a. trick of
his imagination he took a deep breath
and crqwled back under the hood. He be
gan tampering with the spark plugs
again. After serveral minutes the voce
repeated a second time, "Mister, the
trouble is in the carbureatorn.This time
he dashed out to the center of the road,
then seeing no one he made a complete
cirle of the auto. Still he saw no
one. He laughed and told himself he was
actually going crazy.
(con’t on page 5)