Marie Vernon, age l2, of Gastonia, N.C., for her question:
Do all fish sleep?
Goldie the goldfish never takes an afternoon nap. From sunup to sundown, with eyes wide open, she fans her glamorous fins, gliding gracefully around and around her pond. You will never catch her asIeep, even if you peep in on her during the night.
When we fall asIeep, We shut out the ordinary sights and sounds around us and our minds rest from their daytime thoughts. The best time to sleep is during the quiet darkness of the night, and in order to remain sharp and smart, healthy and happy every person requires a goodly quota of sleep each. night of the year. But there are astounding differences between a human being and a fish. He never falls asleep as We do and neither is he ever as wide awake as We are.
Life in the ocean is a strenuous strain between eating and being eaten, hunting and being hunted. The chase never ends and there is no rest from danger day or night. However, though the frantic life of a fish is a ceaseless round of feverish activity, it is not a complicated life. The one quality he must have is speed. He must have enough speed to catch his food and to escape his hungry foes. He does not plot and plan or make thoughtful decisions. His strenuous life requires little or no mental activity which is fortunate for a fish has a small and very ~simple minded brain.
Scientists do not understand all the mysteries and secret processes of sleep. But We are sure that it has something to do with the brain. Animals with complex brains and sensitive nervous systems must sleep the way we do. Creatures with simpler brains and nervous systems need less sleep or none at all. some of them need only light dozes and catnaps and some can function for months in the coma like sleep of hibernation. more
No fish sleeps as We do, but from time to time he must slow down and rest his body. sOiIletimes he sinks down and rests on the bottom where he seeMs to stay motionless. Most likely his fins are waving gently to circulate currents of water. He breathes by taking water into his mouth and streaming it out through his gills. A moving current helps send the water flowing effortlessly into his mouth. The eyelids of a fish are glassy windows and even while resting his staring eYes 8re never closed.
The shark and other prowlers of the deep hunt day and night. And for some reason life in the ocean takes on a quickened pace after dark. The herring, the mackerel and other small fishes cannot stop fleeing long enough to sleep. The ceaseless rush uses up energy. And the frantic fishes must keep going to find enough food to supply this energy. Day and night they live in a vague and simple minded dream world in which sleep is unknown and unneeded.