Ice Aquarium

Few men have seen a specimen of Willoughby's ragfish. Few would care to. It looks crushed and anemic, has few bones. Ichthyologists think it may belong to a family of specialized and degenerate percoids (perch, sunfish). Only six have been taken from their habitat, the deep Pacific waters off the North American coast. Seattle residents and visitors may now see a Willoughby's ragfish in an aquarium unique in the U. S., if not in the world. George Yaeger is the Scandinavian manager of the Port of Seattle's Frozen Fish Department. No scientist, he is an oldtime practical fishman. Twelve years ago he decided that if Seattle could not afford an aquarium for exhibiting live fishes, it should at least have a place to show frozen ones. There was space in the cold storage rooms of Seattle's Spokane Street Dock. The Port Commission did not object. George Yaeger now has 142 specimens in his collection. When he gets a new one he takes it to the cold storage room, freezes it in a block of ice. Then he hangs it on the wall or ceiling, classifies and labels it with the aid of pamphlets issued by Washington's University and State College. Mostly from the Middle West come some 30,000 visitors a year to brave a temperature of 10DEG above zero, stare at the fish. Retaining live form and color in their ice blocks, the fish stare back with more than living fishiness. Seattle pays almost nothing to maintain the exhibit, charges no admission. The collection ranges from a shrimp to an 831-lb. sea lion. Some are common denizens of the Puget Sound region. Rarest are the snipe eel, lantern fish, lancet fish, sprakler, highbrow, and Willoughby's ragfish.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.