In South America there are many kinds of fish, ranging in size from tiny to huge. One of these, a three-inch resident of the Amazon River, is given a name that is almost as long as it is - Aequidens curviceps. It is brightly colored - blue on top, green underneath, yellow fins and tail, and a red band running around its middle.
A pair of these fish spends much time looking for a place on the bottom of the river to produce their young. Once they have chosen a spot, both go to work cleaning away the dirt and pebbles. When satisfied that their nest is ready, the female swims slowly over it, laying hundreds of eggs in neat, orderly rows. The male follows closely behind her, covering the eggs with a fertilizing substance called “milt.”
Most fish lay their eggs and then forget about them, but not these parents. One of them always stays close by, constantly fanning the eggs with its fins and occasionally taking each egg in its lips to clean it.
Just four days before the baby fish are going to hatch, the adults scoop saucer-like depressions in another place in the river bottom. When the babies hatch, the excited parents divide them into groups and lead them away from their birthplace to these new spots. There they are hidden from the eyes of bigger fish which would find them to be a good meal.
The newly born fish are nourished for several days by absorbing their egg sacs. This soon disappears, and the babies have to find their own food. The tiny fish begin swimming away from the nest, perhaps not aware their parents have not yet left. If the babies wander too far away, one of the parents goes after them, picks them up in its mouth and brings them back to home base where it spits them out. Eventually they are strong enough and experienced enough to take care of themselves, and then the parents leave them.
What a great variety exists among all of God’s creatures! The Bible tells us that “Thou [the Lord] hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:1111Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)). It seems He has taken great delight in bringing so many kinds of fish into the world. Through the centuries, every fish throughout the world has obeyed God’s command to “bring forth . . . after his kind” (Genesis 1:2424And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (Genesis 1:24)), and they will continue to do so in the future.
The Scriptures speak wisely: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:88It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)). Rather than accepting man’s ideas, it is wise to trust and believe what God says about creation.
ML-04/13/2003