“Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all.”
Nehemiah 9:6
The study of fish is very interesting. One, the file fish, feeds on eelgrass which grows straight up from the ocean bottom. When the file fish is frightened, it stands on its head among these grasses, waving with the current and is perfectly hidden.
Another salt-water fish, the porcupine, blows itself up, like a volleyball, with dangerous-looking spikes all over its body, scaring off its enemy. A large fish of the Nile River, the birchir, has extra large scales and a large, single tail fanning out wider than its body. The strangest feature is its 12 dorsal fins covering its entire back. It looks like an underwater sailboat.
The archer, a little fish of the East Indies, catches insects by firing well-aimed droplets of water at them, causing them to fall and be devoured. Another, the angler, of both European and American waters, hides in deep, rocky places. It has a fleshy “wand” on which a piece of its flesh looks like food to others. When something comes to investigate, the angler grabs it in its big mouth and swallows it!
Each year from March through July, in the third or fourth night of a full moon only, grunions swim up on sandy California beaches when tides are highest. They scoop a hole in the sand and lay hundreds of eggs, then wriggle back through the sand to the water. Highest tides don’t come again until the eggs are ready to hatch. When they do come, the water-soaked eggs pop open, and tiny, new grunions are carried out to sea to start their lives and repeat what their parents have done before them. Who do you think arranged this schedule?
The well-named toadfish is a very ugly fish with a large, thick head, teeth sticking out from its wide mouth, and vicious-looking, extra-large fins running the whole length of its back and under its stomach, plus other shield-like fins sticking out of its neck. One look at this one is enough to frighten anyone!
When pursued, flying fish leap great distances into the air, as much as six feet above the surface and sometimes land on boat decks. These fish make nests in seaweed, and their eggs look like parts of these plants, so are quite safe from predators.
Not one of these fish, nor any one of the millions of others, is forgotten by its Creator, as the above verse tells us and of whom the Bible also says: “Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters” (Psalm 77:19).
Wherever we look, we always see some wonder of God’s creation. Do you give Him your appreciation?
ML-12/03/2000